Helium’s HNT token surged nearly 170% over a weekend, a move driven mainly by a short squeeze in which bearish traders were forced to close positions rather than by an influx of new buyers, after news of a Texas Wi-Fi deployment. The catalyst was Celina, Texas activating carrier offload on existing municipal Wi-Fi on Aug. 28, 2026, converting city sites into automatic mobile coverage that Helium said was already handling roughly 100 GB of data per day; on Aug. 29 the token climbed about 88% to trade near $0.42. The fast-growing suburb north of Dallas enabled the service at locations including the Celina Public Library, the Ralph O’Dell Senior Center and participating downtown businesses, using Passpoint authentication so supported carrier subscribers connect without apps or passwords, building on AT&T’s April 2025 use of Helium’s Wi-Fi network for subscriber offload. Market activity hit extreme levels, with CoinMarketCap data showing trading volume jumping more than 1,183% to $38.3 million, other readings putting single-day turnover near $44 million to $50 million, open interest rising 556% to $15 million, and accounts describing record trading volumes and open interest as HNT ranked among the day’s top seven gainers. Helium’s weighted funding rate fell to -0.63% and short liquidations exceeded $125,000, the token’s largest single-day squeeze of 2026, while price ran from about $0.21 to $0.43 within hours. Celina’s population rose 24.6% to 64,427 between July 2024 and July 2025, and IT director Amy Alexander said the city turned Wi-Fi it already owned into phone coverage without new tower spending. HNT remains down sharply over 12 months and far below its 2021 peak near $55, keeping attention on whether other municipalities can replicate the conversion.