Samsung has given the usability story of cryptocurrency a major boost – albeit a pricey one – by integrating within the Galaxy S10 models, a wallet function for like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, Enjin and Cosmo Coin. The feature is to be called Samsung Blockchain KeyStore.
The Samsung Blockchain KeyStore, which was announced at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, is essentially a cold storage – not connected to the internet – that can be used to store the three cryptocurrencies.
A cryptocurrency cold storage refers to keeping a reserve of cryptocurrencies offline, a necessary security precaution particularly with large amounts of cryptocurrencies.
The Galaxy S10 also supports select decentralised apps (DApps). Cosmochain, a South Korean blockchain startup behind the Cosmo Coin will be Samsung’s initial DApp partner with its COSMEE DApp.
COSMEE, is a blockchain-based beauty social media platform that rewards users with Cosmo coins for leaving beauty reviews in the app. The coins can be transferred from COSMEE to Samsung’s crypto wallet directly. Among the four cryptocurrencies on Samsung’s list, COSMEE is the only DApp service.
“Samsung Electronics’ blockchain has been looking for a widely-used DApp service, and so it was possible for COSMEE to be selected as a partner,” says Howon Song, CEO of Cosmochain.
Samsung also disclosed at the MWC that it will support contactless payments using cryptocurrency. Back in December 2018, the company was rumoured to have in development a bitcoin app with a cold wallet to save cryptocurrencies. That app was said to use PIN as well as fingerprint as the options to secure its operations.
Although the Galaxy S10 comes with a price tag starting from $899 (N324,008), its cryptocurrency wallet feature is sure to shore up adoption and usage of the four cryptocurrencies it is expected to enable.
“If Samsung integrates crypto to Galaxy S10, I think it may have a bigger impact than ETF and Bakkt combined,” says Joseph Young, a crypto and fintech expert with 95,000 followers on Twitter. “Partially because no one really knows what kind of exposure (an) ETF and Bakkt will bring…while millions of people use Samsung phones daily.”
Since the announcement was made on Monday the price of bitcoin and Ethereum has stayed bullish climbing to $3,809 and $137 on Wednesday.
The South Korean smartphone giant is one of the few companies that have launched blockchain related phones, and its participation in the trend could influence other players in the market. The Verge reports that Sirin Labs unveiled the Finney phone with a wallet for storing cryptocurrency, which costs $1,000.
Then there is the HTC Exodus, which has been available for preorder since last October and can only be purchased with cryptocurrency. The Exodus has a wallet for storing digital tokens as well that is notably partitioned from the rest of the phone for greater security.
Samsung is not dabbling in the crypto space for the first time as the company had last year announced that its foundry business was making application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips for mining hardware companies. Experts say it could be an indication of a future where phones with built-in wallets become commonplace.
