Jack Kubinec

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XNET, a Solana-based project building a decentralized network of Wi-Fi hotspots, has partnered with US telecom giant AT&amp;T. The collaboration will enable AT&amp;T to offload mobile data traffic onto XNET’s network, the team told Lightspeed exclusively.



XNET sells Wi-Fi hotspots that businesses and public spaces can deploy in exchange for XNET token rewards. Together, the patchwork of hotspots makes up a distributed wireless network. XNET partners with cell carriers to offload mobile data onto its hotspots where available, easing network congestion and improving coverage — while the cell carriers pay XNET for the data.



Under the agreement with AT&amp;T, which has been live since September 2024, AT&amp;T wireless customers connect to XNET’s Wi-Fi network where available. AT&amp;T pays XNET in dollars for the data usage, and XNET passes tokens along to its node operators.



According to a Dune <a href="https://dune.com/xnet/xnetmobile">dashboard</a>, XNET currently has 688 active nodes, and around 9 million users have connected through its Wi-Fi offloading network. The handoff between AT&amp;T’s coverage and XNET’s Wi-Fi is seamless, and most users have no idea it’s happening, XNET co-founder Richard DeVaul told me. He added that bootstrapping a business like XNET would have been difficult without a token.



“XNET is the poster child for DePIN. We financed millions of dollars of equipment on our network using our token, without conventional equity or debt financing,” DeVaul said in a text.



DeVaul was previously chief technology officer of Google X, Alphabet’s research and development arm focused on technological “moonshots.” He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/technology/alphabet-executive-sexual-harassment-resigns.html">resigned</a> in 2018 following a report that he had allegedly sexually harassed a female job applicant. DeVaul denied the allegations in a comment shared with Blockworks.



XNET has a similar feel to Helium Mobile, a popular DePIN company building a nationwide cellular network through token-incentivized hotspots. But while Helium lets individuals install hotspots at home, marketing lead Chris Banks said that XNET focuses exclusively on B2B services and restricts deployments to “high-value locations to the carriers.”



“We see Helium as a potential customer, not a competitor. But [Helium Mobile CEO Amir Haleem] may have different ideas,” DeVaul said, adding a tongue-wagging emoji.



Updated April 9, 2025 at 1:15 pm ET: Added allegations against DeVaul and his departure from Google X.



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AT&amp;T

Exclusive: Wi-Fi DePIN XNET announces AT&T partnership

Sebastian Sinclair

AT&amp;T has emerged victorious in a lawsuit filed by prominent crypto investor, Michael Terpin, nearly six years ago over his loss of millions in digital assets following a SIM-swapping hack.



A <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/635925214/Terpin-v-ATT-Order-Granting-at-T-Motion-for-Summary-Judgement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filing</a> from the Central District Court of California shows AT&amp;T’s motion for Summary Judgment was granted last week, meaning the judge ruled in favor of the telecommunications giant without the need to go to trial.&nbsp;



Judge Hon. Otis D. Wright II, overseeing the case, has determined that there is no evidence to support Terpin’s claims against AT&amp;T which is now let off the hook for losses and damages.



&#8220;I am shocked and baffled by this ruling,&#8221; Terpin told Blockworks via email. &#8220;This decision is especially mystifying since the court twice previously refused to dismiss the case.&#8221;



In mid-2017, hackers changed Terpin&#8217;s phone number to divert calls and messages after they bribed an AT&amp;T employee to swap his SIM settings with their own.



The hackers were able to reset passwords and send 2FA messages to a new phone, where they proceeded to steal $24 million in crypto. Terpin later filed a lawsuit against AT&amp;T in 2018 alleging the company had failed to prevent the attack and identity theft.



In addition to being a crypto investor and entrepreneur, Terpin is responsible for co-founding blockchain public relations firm Transform Group as well as the crypto investor network BitAngels.



The investor had asked for compensation for the loss of his crypto, as well as punitive damages totaling some $240 million. Terpin’s claims against the company included allegations of negligence, breach of contract and violation of the Communications Act, among others.



Judge Wright II <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/635924869/Terpin-2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">initially allowed</a> some of Terpin’s claims to proceed on Feb. 24, 2020, meaning he was allowed to continue pursuing his claims in part after AT&amp;T was awarded a partial dismissal.



At the time, the court had found Terpin had established a “special relationship” with AT&amp;T that may have resulted in the company owing him “economic damages” for negligence or breach of contract.



Instead, rather than finding merit in the plaintiff’s claims, the court has ordered that the investor be barred from recovering any damages and that all dates and deadlines in the case be vacated.



&#8220;Sadly, the opinion ignores long-standing federal law and a mountain of evidence that AT&amp;T was grossly negligent and consciously disregarded its legal duties to protect its customers from this type of cybercrime,&#8221; Terpin said. &#8220;There are multiple triable issues of fact here.&#8221;



The case underscores the need for users to think carefully about <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/wallets">self-custody</a> of assets, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-is-a-crypto-wallet">understanding crypto wallets</a> and employing proper risk management such as the use of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-are-multisig-wallets">multi-signature</a> schemes.



Updated April 4, 2023 at 7:01 PM ET: adds comments from Terpin



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