The recognized electronic manufacturer HTC launched a new blockchain phone with Bitcoin (BTC) network support. The Exodus 1 will allow users to run a full Bitcoin node and propagate transactions and blocks that take place on the network. 

HTC Launches New Blockchain Phone

The Taiwanese company unveiled its new device a few hours ago at the Lightning Conference in Berlin, according to data provided by CoinDesk. 

At the event, Phil Chen, the chief decentralized officer at HTC, commented:

“Full nodes are the most important ingredient in the resilience of the Bitcoin network and we have lowered the barrier to entry for any person to run a node.”

The new smartphone is going to be sold for €219 in Europe. The company reduced the price of its smartphone by over 75% compared to its previous model, the HTC Exodus. 

Users can expand the memory of their phone by installing a 400+GB SD card. This would allow the phone to store the full Bitcoin ledger, which has currently a size of 250 GB. 

Moreover, the smartphone has 4 GB of RAM and also 63 GB of storage. It also uses Android Oreo 8.1 as an operating system. 

In addition to it, the phone has a built-in hardware wallet that allows users to store their digital assets. This is very positive for individuals that handle cryptocurrencies because they would not need to hold another hardware wallet to securely store their funds. This integrates security and makes it easier for users to spend their digital assets. 

This smartphone is expected to be available in 27 different countries around the world, including regions such as Europea and the Middle East. Some of these jurisdictions where users will be able to acquire the Exodus 1 include Greece, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The United States is not included in the list. 

Several blockchain smartphones were released to the market during the last years. One of them is the Finney smartphone created by Sirin Labs. This device can be purchased for $999 and it includes a 12 mpx camera and 128 GB storage. It also allows users to store their cryptocurrencies on an integrated hardware wallet. 

In general, companies behind blockchain-based smartphones are trying to promote the use of decentralized applications (dApps). 

Finally, HTC considers that this smartphone allows users to own their identity and data considering different firms require individuals to share more and more of their private information.