Consumer electronics giant HTC is producing an Android smartphone that will feature a universal wallet for cryptocurrencies and will run several protocols including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Lightning Network and Dfinity. “Exodus” aims to be a break-out product for mobile users who are early adopters in the crypto-blockchain space – the futurists focused on driving adoption of decentralized networks that can reduce corporate control by giving consumers the ability to own their own data.
Spearheaded by HTC’s Decentralized Chief Officer Phil Chen, Exodus will offer decentralized applications (DApps) that may one day turn today’s smartphones into dumb bricks – the kind that allow big data companies like Facebook to control users’ digital identities and all the digital content that’s been uploaded.
The push to make DApps ubiquitous is challenging everything we know about the internet and how we store, manage and share what we post and host. It will slowly alter our relationship to Facebook, Google, Amazon, YouTube, Instagram, Expedia and every company that collects our data.
In an interview with Cryptovest, Chen says, “I think I was in a really privileged position as an investor to look at all that’s going on in the crypto space […] and I myself, I was just really excited about its potential in the next-generation protocols, the potential for decentralizing the internet, pretty much ‘re-architecting’ the internet.”
The HTC Exodus will allow consumers to step back from the cloud model, where consumer information is routinely monetized for advertisers, and personal data is mined in order to target demographics while building statistical databases. Chen believes the phone is ground zero for the Web 3.0.
Since 2008, HTC has shipped over 100 millions smartphone units. Known as a leader in the industry, the Taiwanese company launched the world’s first Android smartphone. A decade later, launching “the world’s first native blockchain phone” is an extension of HTC’s groundbreaking philosophy to create transformative consumer electronics.
The company joins a chorus of smartphone makers who are leveraging the popularity of cryptocurrencies and echoing the rallying cry to #freeyourdata. Huawei just announced a mobile cryptocurrency app for its latest smartphones, and is reportedly in talks with Sirin Labs to develop a mobile phone targeting blockchain-based applications. Sirin Labs plans to release Finney, the blockchain-based smartphone and PC in collaboration with FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group. BitVault also aims to introduce “the world’s first blockchain cryptocommunicator,” and Blacture is planning to create “the first blockchain smartphone in the US.”
Chen writes, “I want to see a world where the end consumers can truly own their data (browsing history, identity, assets, wallets, emails, messaging, etc) without the need for central authorities. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but I believe the mobile hardware layer can contribute significantly to our new decentralized world.”
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