Strange Antennas Used For A Secret Crypto Mining Activity Are Sprouting In Utah’s Hills

Strange antennas have been spotted cropping from the hills of Salt Lake City in Utah, that seem to be linked to a crypto mining company.

According to KSLTV-5, the antennas appeared a year ago and authorities still have no idea who is leaving them on the hills.

The unit consists of a solar panel, a battery box, and an antenna, the city’s recreational trail manager, Tyler Fonarow, said. 

Helium And Its Connections With The Strange Antennas 

Michael Locklear, a reporter for KSLTV-5, tweeted the photos of the units and the crypto community decided to put their detective hats on to find out what is going on. 

Here’s more on the story https://t.co/x1YKizaPgt

— Michael Locklear (@MichaelLocklear) January 5, 2023

According to the replies in Locklear’s tweet, it seems to be that the antennas belong to off-grid crypto miners from Helium Network. This could be the most plausible explanation for the placement of the antennas.

Fonarow in an interview by KSLTV-5, said: 

“These towers have been bolted into different peaks and summits and ridges around the foothills.” 

This also makes sense as the Helium Network sells devices that use these strange antennas to provide a hotspot for users to spend HNT, the network’s native token.

Add to the cryptocurrency angle are the number of online articles showing how people can create self-sustaining miners for rural use. 

Fonarow pointed out that due to the number of antennas found, they estimate that there might dozens of these spread around Utah’s foothills.

This, however, presents legal trouble for the person who placed the antennas in the area.

According to Fonarow, the antennas that were found last year and the past few months are not registered to the local government.

Although Fonarow did consider the crypto angle for the antennas found, Luke Allen, outreach manager of Fonarow’s department, clarified that the idea of crypto actually came from social media discourse about the topic. 

It’s unclear how much the strange antennas cost, Allen said.

Evidence Supporting The Crypto Hypotheses

A quick search on the Helium Network’s active hotspots in the area show that the Salt Lake City area is a highly concentrated spot for Helium miners.

Local authorities could use the map to find unregistered hotspots on the foothills which could lead to the eventual capture of the person or persons installing the equipment there.

This decision of the individual or group of people placing antennas on random spots has local authorities in Salt Lake City scratching their heads.

Meanwhile, using the earnings calculator of Helium, it shows that the rewards for mining is very low.

Nobody knows for sure how these strange antennas work and if local authorities will find more scattered around in other areas.

The Helium Network has not issued any official statement about the involvement of Helium products or staff in the discovery of these strange antennas.

-Featured image from Data Center Dynamics