The Magic Crypto Conference recently took place in New York and during the event, HTC took the stage to announce the budget successor HTC Exodus 1s to their original cryptocurrency smartphone – the HTC Exodus. This new model will be able to run a Bitcoin full node for maximum independence of users. The expected release date is some time in Q3 of 2019 with prices starting from $250.
Crypto Phones – How Did We Get Here?
HTC was the first smartphone producer to introduce Android to the masses with the launch of their HTC Dream device back in 2008. That “dream” is what launched the full pledged Android Ecosystem that we have today, thus it’s safe to say that HTC as a company is no stranger to taking risks and expanding upon innovation.
They did the same with the original cryptocurrency smartphone – the Exodus 1. It’s the first device of its kind, allowing users to store their private keys securely and having advanced access to the blockchain everywhere, at any time. This whole endeavor’s goal is to introduce people to crypto and have them more engaged, build trust in the whole blockchain concept and increase adoption rates. Many crypto pioneers have since then backed HTC, including people like Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, Brendan Eich, and others.
Where the Exodus 1 lacked in features, like full node support and the high barrier to entry, the device was priced similarly to other Android flagship phones, the 1s fixes these issues with improved capabilities and lower, budget-oriented price.
What’s New With the HTC Exodus 1s
The main feature of the phone is the Bitcoin full node support. As I mentioned in a previous news article, the actual amount of BTC full nodes isn’t as large as previously believed, which is why any new full node is gladly welcomed. HTCs Phil Chen confirmed that’s the company’s goal as well.
In addition to that we have the low price, included Zion Vault crypto wallet and support for blockchain assisted messaging and dApps. The only drawback is that you’ll face the added cost of buying a large capacity SD card, so you could store all 200GB of blockchain data.
In the future, we could expect to see support for other blockchains, but so far, the plan is to polish Bitcoin support as HTC considers it to be the most important cryptocurrency and they stand fully behind the idea of decentralization and personal independence.