You might soon have a chance to lay your hands on a blockchain powered HTC phone. Details are still scantly but reports indicate that the phone will contain a universal wallet that will hold your bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Phil Chen who is spearheading the project confirmed the plans on Tuesday during the Consensus Conference in New York.
The phone called Exodus will have secure hardware and decentralised apps. There are plans to even develop a native blockchain network that will allow users to easily trade cryptocurrencies among themselves. That means users might soon have the opportunity to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies directly on their phone presumable at minimal or no fees.
There is already a page dedicated to the Exodus phone. “Our vision is to expand the blockchain ecosystem by creating the world’s first phone dedicated to decentralized applications and security. With the release of the HTC Exodus we can now make this a reality,” the Exodus landing page says.
Act as Bitcoin Network Node
Each phone will also act as a node for Bitcoin and Ethereum, helping to expand and secure the network. The project intends to double and triple the number of nodes of Ethereum and Bitcoin.
“Through Exodus, we are excited to be supporting underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity, and more,” Chen remarked.
According to Chen, we expect to see more partnerships in the future.
“We would like to support the entire blockchain ecosystem, and in the next few months we’ll be announcing many more exciting partnerships together,” Chen said.
The price of the Exodus is yet to be disclosed but rumour has it that users might be able to pay for it using cryptocurrencies.
Second Blockchain Phone
The Exodus will not exactly be the first blockchain phone to hit the market.
Finney, is the first phone being developed by Sirin Labs and can be used to store cryptocurrencies without incurring any costs. The privacy focussed phone integrates a cold storage wallet and will be built by Foxconn. It will go on sale in October.
Phile Chen previously worked with HTC as a product manager helping build some of the first android phones and the Facebook phone. Chen also developed Vive, HTC’s VR headset He has also been an advisor at Horizons Ventures.
He will now be in charge of blockchain and cryptocurrency related projects at the company.
It remains to be seen whether blockchain phones will provide a better experience compared to regular android or iOS phones. Much of the capabilities that will come with Exodus and Finney phones like storage wallets can be achieved in regular phones by simply installing relevant applications.
Transferring bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will still attract mining fees.