In this use case, the Longtail Building showcases the power of Helium | The People's Network to rejuvenate space, impact community, and unlock new business models by turning cost centers like rent and mortgage into revenue generators. More broadly, crypto allows virtually anyone, anywhere, to repeat this model and expand its impact, transforming business models and innovation, public goods, and community.

Here's the Deets:

The LongTail Building started in 1860 as a graveyard, a home for orphans, then a bank, grocery store, and a bourbon bar named after a Triple Crown-winning horse, Whirlaway. Located in an Opportunity Zone, down the street from Churchill Downs, next to the University of Louisville. The space had a variety of illicit activities, including paraphernalia-related fires, and was a community eye-sore, neighborhood safety risk, and government / law-enforcement expense / issue.

Rather than bulldozing the historic building and building mini-storage or a parking lot, a small plastic box from Helium was run, a device costs under $500 and requires wifi/cell service and a computer/phone to use an app. Helium uses very little energy and relies on proof of coverage, meaning it creates a network that prioritizes new places / physical locations, especially those often off the beaten path. In other words, being outside traditional power hubs like San Francisco and New York was a benefit. The lower costs of spaces and services in fly-over county, coupled with Helium's business model that prioritized geographic diversity, created an extraordinary impact.

The earnings from the Helium node were able to cover the cost of the building, the adjacent spaces, the renovation, furnishings, outdoor green spaces, trees, plants, landscaping, and a host of services, both technical and traditional. Today, the building is fully renovated, with outdoor carbon-positive green spaces and historical murals from local art students. It currently serves as offices for crypto funds and companies and hosts various educational and art/cultural events.

Crypto benefitted the local neighborhood and created jobs, including tech finance, research, and ops positions, but also created revenue for preexistent jobs and small businesses like construction, maintenance, clerical and legal, all sourced locally. The change impacted the community by reducing safety risks, historically restoring a beloved regional icon, increasing the tax base for an at-risk geography, and physically transforming private and public spaces through clean-up, new sidewalks, lighting, and art.

The neighborhood is transforming and now boasts new student housing with every potential for continued rejuvenation from additional retail, food, and entertainment. All this was done privately, independently, and quietly, requiring minimal initial resources but merely an awareness of the new opportunities for crypto as a business model. In this case, crypto serves as an economic engine to make difficult problems and questionable economics for IRL projects viable for transformation, recreation, and renaissance - real-world impact.

Early adoption pays, and crypto prices are volatile, but this use case shows the power of the crypto as a business model. The horse, Whirlaway, was nicknamed "Mr. Longtail," and the name of the new space is the Longtail Building, in a wink and a nod to that heritage. Mr. Longtail was known as "The People's Champion." The Longtail logo uses a horse's tail drawn as a distribution curve, representing access, impact, and opportunity for people along the long tail, white-collar, blue-collar, everyone.

TLDR: Onramping to crypto pays. It's early days. Knowing a/bt & participating opportunities are key.