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Fund An OUI Using HNT

Whether facilitated through a third party or acquired directly through the network, all data transfer on Helium requires Data Credits. This guide will illustrate two methods of directly converting HNT into DC and subsequently delegating it for use by an OUI.

Funding an OUI Using The CLI Wallet​

The Helium CLI Wallet provides several tools to manage DC balances.

The price command is a helpful tool for determining the amount of HNT required for a particular amount of DC. For example, this command will output the amount of HNT required to fund 1M DC ($10).

helium-wallet dc price 10

Swap HNT to DC​

With HNT and Sol (for transaction fees) in an account, use the mint command to convert HNT into DC. The --dc flag is a helpful way to mint a specific amount of DC. Mint these DC to an account where further transactions can be issued on them — often the same account where they are being minted from.

helium-wallet dc mint --dc 1000000 --commit

Delegate DC To The OUI​

After the DC is minted, it can be delegated to the OUI. The delegation is issued to the payer key of the OUI.

helium-wallet dc delegate iot <Payer Key> 1000000 --commit

Funding an OUI Using The Helium Wallet App​

Swap HNT to DC​

  1. Select a Wallet in the Helium Wallet app.
  2. Tap the Swap icon in the middle of the screen.
  3. Select HNT in the top drop-down and enter an amount of HNT to swap.
  4. Select DC in the lower drop-down, and it will be filled with the resulting DC amount.
  5. Tap the Swap Tokens button and confirm the swap transaction.
  6. HNT is burned for DC within the same Wallet.

The new DC balance amount can be verified in the app tokens list on the $ tab within the Helium Wallet app.

At this point, DC has been successfully acquired into the wallet, represented by the OUI's payer key. However, the Packet Verifier Service does not have the authority to burn DC from the wallet directly. To enable this, it is necessary to delegate DC into the OUI's escrow account, where the Packet Verifier Service is authorized to burn DC.

Delegate DC To The OUI​

  1. Select a Wallet in the Helium Wallet app.
  2. Tap the $ icon on the bottom tab bar.
  3. Tap the DC balance.
  4. Tap Delegate.
  5. Select the IOT Network.
  6. Enter the payer key of the OUI as the address.
  7. Enter the amount of DC to delegate.
  8. Swipe to Delegate.

The OUI is now funded, the history of DC delegation is visible under the "All Activity" section towards the bottom of the DC page. It's now time to configure and deploy the LNS following the Chirpstack Configuration guides.