Taiwan-based mobile phone manufacturer – HTC has launched a new smartphone ‘Exodus 1s’, with the capability to run a full Bitcoin (BTC) node on mobile.
About a year after it released the Exodus 1 which only offers a wallet to store cryptocurrencies, HTC has introduced the Exodus 1s with a unique functionality to run full BTC node; that is capable of holding the entire bitcoin ledger.
Priced at $244, the new Exodus 1s is a low-cost version of HTC’s first blockchain phone Exodus 1 ($699); and is available for purchase using any of these five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, BitcoinCash and Binance Coin.
The Exodus 1s also features buy, sell, send, receive, trade, lend and borrow options for users.
Further details show that the device will first be available to customers in Europe, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Other regions such as Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan will have a launch date later.
HTC’s Decentralized Chief Officer Phil Chen states that the full node functionality “is the most important ingredient in the resilience of the Bitcoin network.” He adds that by running a full node on the Exodus 1s, the company has lowered the entry barrier of any person to run a node and participate in the global network.
One standout feature of the new phone, HTC says, is the ability to run a “full bitcoin node.” Buyers would have to fork out for a 400GB memory card that stores the bitcoin blockchain — a digital ledger used to validate transactions on the phone. This basically means that users will be able to verify transactions on the underlying bitcoin network.
This would enable cryptocurrency wallets on the phone to “calculate the user’s balance and ensure that future transactions are verified, further ensuring that the balance is actually owned by the spender.
See more here: https://www.htcexodus.com/eu/cryptophone/
The past months have seen an increase in blockchain and cryptocurrency-enabled smartphones. Tech giants such as Samsung, LG, Sirin Labs and PundiX are all developing devices with crypto functionality, including storage wallets and other features.
While these devices are yet-to-be mainstream, it is believed that their utility will spread with adoption and advancement of the industry.
