HTC Corporation has announced that Litecoin co-founder, Charlie Lee, will serve as an advisor to HTC Exodus, the native blockchain smartphone developed by the Taiwanese consumer electronics firm.
One small step for @SatoshiLite. One giant leap for blockchain.
Team @HTCExodus, @philchen913 @htc are honored to have Charlie Lee to join as our advisor.
cc @litecoin @LTCFoundation @LitecoinProject #LetMyDataGo https://t.co/JWGI4b8yH0
— HTC Exodus (@htcexodus) July 30, 2018
The HTC Exodus, which the Asian tech giant has described as the world’s first native blockchain phone, is slated for release in this year’s third quarter. HTC has indicated that every Exodus device will be a node and this will allow users to own their identity and their data by having both on their devices as opposed to being on a centralized cloud. Additionally, every device will come with a cold storage wallet for cryptocurrencies.
Principles of the HTC Exodus:
1. Hold your own keys
2. Own your identity & data
3. Phone is the hubLive at Consensus 2018: https://t.co/4s62UCutzu pic.twitter.com/Cku3U6hJw0
— HTC Exodus (@htcexodus) May 15, 2018
However, specifications of the device as well as the markets it will initially be available in have so far not been made public.
LTC Joins the Bandwagon
Originally, according to the Chief Crypto Officer of HTC, Phil Chen, it was revealed that HTC Exodus would support Bitcoin and Ethereum as CCN had reported.
“Through the Exodus, we are also excited to be supporting underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity, and more,” Chen was quoted as saying. “We would like to support the entire blockchain ecosystem, and in the next few months we’ll be announcing many more exciting partnerships together. Together, we want to craft the best blockchain & decentralized application experiences to end consumers.”
Now the co-founder of Litecoin has confirmed that support has been expanded and will include the 7th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Met the HTC Exodus team last week and was really excited to hear the phone will support LTC and Lightning Network on Litecoin natively! I will be an advisor as I see having a secure crypto phone that makes LN simple is needed for mass adoption.
P.S. No, they will not remove BTC. https://t.co/WQcygPVst0
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) July 30, 2018
With the stated goals of the HTC Exodus being to bring decentralized applications (dApp) to mobile devices, the Taiwanese tech giant earlier this month announced that it had formed a partnership with CryptoKittes, a dApp on the Ethereum network, allowing the game to be released on future devices from HTC.
User Empowerment via Decentralization
Initially, the HTC U12+ was selected as the first HTC device through which CryptoKitties would be distributed. At the time, HTC also invited developers to distribute their blockchain games via its crypto collectible marketplace as well as its crypto gaming app store to ‘combat the commoditization of humanity’ by empowering users through dApps.
Besides HTC Corporation, another Taiwan-based tech firm, Foxconn was selected in April this year by Israeli tech firm, Sirin Labs, to build a blockchain-powered phone known as Finney. The blockchain-powered phone from Sirin Labs will allow users to store and make purchases using cryptocurrencies. Expected to be shipped this October the operating system of the phone will be Android-based.
SIRIN LABS is incredibly excited to announce that it has chosen FIH Mobile (Foxconn International Holding) to Manufacture the FINNEY smartphone. With this development, we are taking a huge leap forward to bring the Go Crypto revolution to the mainstream. https://t.co/YvZ1oX4xD4
— SIRIN LABS (Not giving away ETH) (@SIRINLABS) April 4, 2018
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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