Sphere Labs, a payment infrastructure business for web3, has recently partnered with the Helium network to expand its payment options for users. Helium is a blockchain network centered around the Internet of Things (IoT) and uses web3 to boast WiFi signals. 

Powered by Solana, the duo plans to improve user connectivity with fiat onboarding to pay for services in conjunction with the current release of the Solana Saga smartphone which is the most advanced mobile web3 device available so far. 

Sphere Labs' partnership with Helium

Sphere Labs is developing a new fiat onboarding system called Helium Data Credits Portal (DCP). This portal will provide users with two options when using the Helium network for internet access: Card or Burn. 

These two options allow users to either use fiat as a payment method or to burn HNT (Helium’s native token) from their wallets. The smart contract for DCP was developed by Sphere Labs with assistance from Stripe Crypto to ensure optimal efficiency. 

Solana needs improvements 

The addition of Sphere Labs to the Helium network comes at a time when Solana has yet to recover from its downward trend that started a year ago. In early 2022, NFT traders were calling Solana the Ethereum Killer and dubbed the upcoming trading season Solana Summer before the entire market took a crash. 

However, Solana has been unable to recover value as other networks did in 2022 because of FTX’s crash. The company had significant investments in the blockchain network that vanished after SBF caused the company to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

Since then, a few small market pumps and a meme project have been the only things carrying the network into 2023. With the entire NFT market drying up and frequent outages still plaguing the network, Solana has been in dire need of repair and that might be happening. 

Conjunction with Solana Saga?

The Solana Saga Smartphone, announced in the summer of 2022, finally saw its release earlier in May. Fortunately, while reviews have not been extraordinary, there have been no major issues with the product so far. 

However, it’s starting to look like Solana is pivoting away from degen trading activity and looking towards a more sustainable business model. The inclusion of Helium earlier this year may not have caused massive liquidity pumps into the network, but it provided additional infrastructure that is necessary for innovating the Saga. 

Now with Sphere Labs joining the team, it’s clear that Solana may have found a new niche to market themselves with as they branch out with mobile products, but Solana will need to work on improving their network stability if they want to compete with mobile giants like Apple and Samsung. 

Future of web3 mobile

Although mobile technology seems like the obvious direction for the web3 industry, there are still a number of issues preventing the two from coming together and it mainly has to do with security. Storing private keys on smartphones is something that isn’t encouraged because phones have the ability to memorize private keys and it poses a risk if someone’s phone gets hacked or stolen. 

Moreover, the more that private keys move, the more vulnerable they become. Connecting to a wallet from a desktop device is one thing, but sending that same connection to a mobile phone through an app or link creates obvious targets for hackers to exploit. While the Saga smartphone attempts to mitigate this concern, global adoption of mobile web3 products can’t occur until security is improved.