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Solana (SOL)<\/a>\u2019s new crypto-native phone<\/a> that will be developed by the little-known smartphone maker Osom<\/strong> is far from the first \u2018blockchain phone\u2019 to be announced since crypto and blockchain technology took a giant step into the mainstream around 2017. But what exactly happened to all those other phones, and did the producers deliver on their promises?<\/p>\n To find out, we dug up reports of blockchain phones dating back to 2018 and looked at the status of these projects today.<\/p>\n Among the first companies to announce a purpose-made blockchain phone was Switzerland-based Sirin Labs<\/strong> with its Finney phone<\/a>, named after the late cryptographer and Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a> pioneer Hal Finney.<\/p>\n The company itself received its funding through the fourth largest initial coin offering (ICO<\/a>) of 2017, having raised USD 157.8m from the sale of its SRN<\/a> token.<\/p>\n And although the price of the token has collapsed from a peak of USD 3.5 in 2018 to basically zero today, the Finney phone was made and still remains for sale in the Sirin Shop<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreover, the Sirin Labs as recently as June 2021 launched an updated version of its phone known as Sirin V3, per a tweet<\/a> from the company.<\/p>\n The xPhone was a smartphone planned by Pundi X<\/strong><\/a>, a crypto payments firm based in Singapore.<\/p>\n Among the products that Pundi X has delivered is XPOS, a device the company on its LinkedIn page<\/a> says is the \u201cworld\u2019s first point-of-sale solution that enables merchants and consumers to conduct in-store transactions instantly on the blockchain.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u2019s smartphone, however, appears to be a dead project, with little information to be found since the initial announcement<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n According to the announcement at the time, the xPhone was supposed to work without a carrier by routing data through blockchain nodes. \u201cUnlike traditional phones which require a centralized mobile carrier, XPhone runs independently without the need for that,\u201d the blog post said.<\/p>\n Cryptonews.com<\/i> reached out to Pundi X to learn about the status of the project but has not heard back.<\/p>\n In 2018, the smartphone maker HTC<\/strong><\/a> announced its venture into crypto<\/a> with its Exodus phone, which reportedly could double as a crypto hardware wallet. The phone was also reported to come with a separate micro operating system running parallel with Android, made by\u00a0SoftBank<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Arm Holdings<\/strong>, to keep customers’ crypto safe.<\/p>\n In 2020, the company took the project one step further by enabling Monero (XMR)<\/a> mining on the phone<\/a> through a partnership with the ASIC chip design company\u00a0Midas Labs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Exodus phone is among the \u2018crypto phones\u2019 that have made it, and the phone remains for sale to this day via a dedicated website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The major electronics company LG<\/strong> <\/a>was also among the companies that in the wake of the 2017 bull market wanted to secure its share of the growing blockchain industry with a dedicated smartphone.<\/p>\n In 2019, the company confirmed earlier rumors that it was working on a blockchain-powered phone<\/a>, saying that such a phone was indeed under consideration.<\/p>\n Fast-forward to 2021, however, the company, which long had struggled with its smartphone sales, said it would leave the smartphone market entirely due to its diminishing market share and the loss of around USD 4.1 billion.<\/p>\n LG has not published any information about the fate of the planned blockchain phone, and the company did not respond to a request for comment from Cryptonews.com<\/i>.<\/p>\n Still, the electronics giant has continued to show an interest in crypto, saying in a statement<\/a> in March this year that it has added \u201cthe development and selling of blockchain-based software\u201d as one of its business objectives.<\/p>\n Further, reports<\/a> earlier this year even speculated that the company could be looking to start a crypto exchange.<\/p>\n Another company that announced a blockchain phone<\/a> in 2019 was the crypto exchange Huobi<\/strong> <\/a>in partnership with Whole Network<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to reports from 2019, the development of the phone, dubbed Acute Angle, would be funded through the sale of Whole Network\u2019s NODE tokens on Huobi. Moreover, the exchange also promised that customers would be able to pay for the phone using the huobi token (HT)<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, there has been no information published by Huobi or its partner Whole Network on the status of the phone since 2019. Today, Whole Network\u2019s website<\/a> is no longer accessible, the company\u2019s Twitter account<\/a> has not shared anything since 2019, while the latest post on its Weibo account<\/a> is from 2020.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the price of Whole Network\u2019s NODE token has fallen to basically 0, but the token remains tradable on Huobi Global.<\/p>\n Cryptonews.com<\/i> reached out to Whole Network but has not heard back.<\/p>\n Last on our list is a phone from South Korean electronics giant Samsung<\/strong><\/a>, said to be powered by Kakao<\/strong> <\/a>subsidiary Ground X<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Klaytn blockchain<\/a>\u00a0platform.\u00a0The phone was essentially a special limited edition of Samsung\u2019s Galaxy Note 10 phone-tablet (phablet).<\/p>\n According to initial reports about the KlaytnPhone<\/a> from 2019, the only real difference between KlaytnPhone and a regular Galaxy Note 10 is that the former comes with a crypto wallet and certain blockchain apps installed. In addition, 2,000 KLAY tokens are given to all phone customers.<\/p>\n Per the phone\u2019s dedicated website<\/a>, KlaytnPhone is \u201cthe first and only smartphone that offers easy and seamless experience for users interacting with iGaming platforms and blockchain-powered services.\u201d The website added that the phone allows users to \u201cexperience an all-in-one blockchain ecosystem from token to wallet to blockchain application.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the same website, the KlaytnPhone is only available for customers in South Korea.<\/p>\n Cryptonews.com<\/i> reached out to the makers of the KlaytnPhone to learn about the status of the project but has yet to hear back.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Learn more:\u00a0<\/strong> – Huawei\u2019s Latest Smartphone Comes with a CBDC Wallet for Digital Yuan<\/a> – Samsung Unveils New Digital Wallet with \u2018Crypto\u2019 and Digital Documentation Capabilities<\/a> – LG \u2018Likely\u2019 to Follow Samsung into Blockchain Phone Market<\/a> – Mining Monero on HTC Exodus 1s is Coming in 3 Months<\/a>Sirin Labs\u2019 Finney phone<\/h2>\n
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Pundi X\u2019s XPhone<\/h2>\n
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HTC Exodus<\/h2>\n
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LG\u2019s blockchain phone<\/h2>\n
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Huobi-affiliated Acute Angle phone<\/h2>\n
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Samsung KlaytnPhone<\/h2>\n
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– Solana Labs, Smartphone Maker Osom Team up to Unveil Web3-ready Handset<\/a>
– Pundi X Strikes Deal in Venezuela, Mobile Operator Embraces Crypto Pay<\/a><\/p>\n
– Mobile Carrier SK Unveils Samsung-made 5G Phone with Blockchain ID Wallet<\/a><\/p>\n
– Samsung Adds 3rd-Party Crypto Wallet Support<\/a><\/p>\n
– Samsung and LG Could Follow SK in Issuing a Cryptoasset – Analysts<\/a><\/p>\n
– How is HTC\u2019s Exodus 1s Cryptophone Different from its Exodus 1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n