Solana (SOL)’s new crypto-native phone that will be developed by the little-known smartphone maker Osom is far from the first ‘blockchain phone’ 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?
To find out, we dug up reports of blockchain phones dating back to 2018 and looked at the status of these projects today.
Sirin Labs’ Finney phone
Finney phone. Source: Sirin Labs
Among the first companies to announce a purpose-made blockchain phone was Switzerland-based Sirin Labs with its Finney phone, named after the late cryptographer and Bitcoin (BTC) pioneer Hal Finney.
The company itself received its funding through the fourth largest initial coin offering (ICO) of 2017, having raised USD 157.8m from the sale of its SRN token.
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.
Moreover, the Sirin Labs as recently as June 2021 launched an updated version of its phone known as Sirin V3, per a tweet from the company.
Pundi X’s XPhone
XPhone. Source: Pundi X
The xPhone was a smartphone planned by Pundi X, a crypto payments firm based in Singapore.
Among the products that Pundi X has delivered is XPOS, a device the company on its LinkedIn page says is the “world’s first point-of-sale solution that enables merchants and consumers to conduct in-store transactions instantly on the blockchain.”
The company’s smartphone, however, appears to be a dead project, with little information to be found since the initial announcement in 2018.
According to the announcement at the time, the xPhone was supposed to work without a carrier by routing data through blockchain nodes. “Unlike traditional phones which require a centralized mobile carrier, XPhone runs independently without the need for that,” the blog post said.
In a statement shared with Cryptonews.com, Pundi X referred to a blog post from 2020 and said production of the phone has been affected by Covid-19 and cost increases. As a result, the company said it is no longer accepting orders for the phone, and that those who had pre-ordered have received refunds.
The company added that it now focused on the adoption and enhancement of the point-of-sale solution XPOS.
HTC Exodus
Exodus 1. Source: HTC
In 2018, the smartphone maker HTCannounced its venture into crypto 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 SoftBank‘s Arm Holdings, to keep customers’ crypto safe.
In 2020, the company took the project one step further by enabling Monero (XMR)mining on the phone through a partnership with the ASIC chip design company Midas Labs.
The Exodus phone is among the ‘crypto phones’ that have made it, and the phone remains for sale to this day via a dedicated website.
LG’s blockchain phone
Source: lg.com
The major electronics company LGwas 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.
In 2019, the company confirmed earlier rumors that it was working on a blockchain-powered phone, saying that such a phone was indeed under consideration.
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.
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.
Still, the electronics giant has continued to show an interest in crypto, saying in a statement in March this year that it has added “the development and selling of blockchain-based software” as one of its business objectives.
Further, reports earlier this year even speculated that the company could be looking to start a crypto exchange.
According to reports from 2019, the development of the phone, dubbed Acute Angle, would be funded through the sale of Whole Network’s NODE tokens on Huobi. Moreover, the exchange also promised that customers would be able to pay for the phone using the huobi token (HT).
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’s website is no longer accessible, the company’s Twitter account has not shared anything since 2019, while the latest post on its Weibo account is from 2020.
Meanwhile, the price of Whole Network’s NODE token has fallen to basically 0, but the token remains tradable on Huobi Global.
Cryptonews.com reached out to Whole Network but has not heard back.
Samsung KlaytnPhone
Source: klaytnphone.com
Last on our list is a phone from South Korean electronics giant Samsung, said to be powered by Kakaosubsidiary Ground X’s Klaytn blockchain platform. The phone was essentially a special limited edition of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10 phone-tablet (phablet).
According to initial reports about the KlaytnPhone 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.
Per the phone’s dedicated website, KlaytnPhone is “the first and only smartphone that offers easy and seamless experience for users interacting with iGaming platforms and blockchain-powered services.” The website added that the phone allows users to “experience an all-in-one blockchain ecosystem from token to wallet to blockchain application.”
According to the same website, the KlaytnPhone is only available for customers in South Korea.
Cryptonews.com reached out to the makers of the KlaytnPhone to learn about the status of the project but has yet to hear back.
Today, Tulip Protocol made the announcement that they have integrated Chainlink Price Feeds in order to better secure their yield aggregating platform that is running on the Solana mainnet. The team had previously stated their intention to integrate Chainlink Price Feeds, and at this point, the connection has been completely put into action. Chainlink is the premier decentralized oracle network in the world, safeguarding tens of billions of dollars in smart contracts. It has diversified its offerings across other blockchains, notably Solana, Fantom, Polygon, BNB Chain, and others.
In a recent blog post, the team behind the Tulip Protocol explained that they had integrated Chainlink to provide users with more confidence that leveraged positions will be liquidated equitably using extremely accurate price data and that the protocol will continue to be completely collateralized at all times.
According to Tomasz Wojewoda, Head of Global Sales at Chainlink Labs:
“We’re pleased that Tulip Protocol has integrated Chainlink Price Feeds on Solana, helping secure its yield aggregation protocol with highly robust, decentralized market data. With the high-throughput performance of Solana and the strong security guarantees of the Chainlink Network, Tulip Protocol is able to empower users with a performant and secure platform.”
Tulip Protocol Seeks To Take Advantage Of Solana
Tulip Protocol brings together lenders who receive a return on their deposits and borrowers who are interested in gaining access to leverage. Users who initiate leverage positions are responsible for maintaining a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio that has been previously established. The Tulip Protocol then uses the asset price data that is provided by Chainlink Price Feeds to verify that this ratio is accurate. If the value of the collateral falls below the threshold that was established by the protocol, then their position will be immediately liquidated to assist in guaranteeing that the lenders will be repaid.
Tulip Protocol intends to capitalize on Solana by giving users the ability to more regularly reinvest their income and grow their assets without having to pay exorbitant amounts of gas expenses. Chainlink oracles can now be natively integrated on Solana, making it possible for Solana-based applications to benefit from enhanced levels of security and transparency. Yesterday, OpenOcean made the announcement that they would be integrating Chainlink Price Feeds in order to help secure the limited order functionality on many chains. These chains include Avalanche, Ethereum, Polygon, Fantom, and BNB Chain.
According to Senx, Co-Founder of Tulip Protocol:
“We’re excited to be using Chainlink Price Feeds on Solana to help secure our yield aggregation platform. By leveraging the most secure and reliable on-chain data available, we’re able to provide our lenders and borrowers with greater assurances that liquidations are based on accurate price data, and the protocol will maintain a healthy loan-to-value ratio through all market conditions.”
Allowing Stakers To Benefit From Higher APYs
Natives of the blockchain as well as newcomers to the technology are beginning to understand that decentralization does not necessarily equate to a secure platform. Given that Web3 services are currently disclosing their susceptibilities to attacks from both within and outside the network, further initiatives should be undertaken to improve the safety of user assets. Fortunately, a growing number of blockchain businesses are beginning to add various levels of security to their services in order to solidify the trust of their existing customers and attract additional investors in the near and distant future.
Tulip Protocol is the very first yield aggregation platform to be built on Solana, and it features auto-compounding vault techniques. The dApp was developed to make use of Solana’s blockchain, which has a low cost and high efficiency, hence enabling the vault techniques to compound frequently. Stakeholders are able to reap the benefits of greater APYs as a result, without the need for active management.
On this week’s episode of “The Market Report,” Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the latest updates concerning the recent Solana (SOL) hack.
To kick things off, we broke down the latest news in the markets this week:
Bitcoin realized price bands form key resistance as bulls lose $24K, significant whale activity between $22,000 and $24,800 adds to the complexity of the current spot market setup. Bitcoin (BTC) consolidated lower on Aug. 9 after familiar resistance preserved a multi-month trading range. When will we finally break out of this price range and make the move towards $30K?
Institutions flocking to Ethereum for 7 straight weeks as Merge nears: Report, “Greater clarity” around the Merge has driven institutional inflows into Ethereum products, according to a CoinShares report. Is the ETH merge finally around the corner and will it bring new all time highs to ETH or has the price already been factored into the current price?
Circle freezes blacklisted Tornado Cash smart contract addresses, Crypto data aggregator Dune Analytics said that, on Monday, Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, froze over 75,000 USDC worth of funds linked to the 44 Tornado Cash addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. Could this mark the end for Tornado Cash or is there a way they can redeem themselves?
Next up is a new segment called “Quick Crypto Tips,” which aims to give newcomers to the crypto industry quick and easy tips to get the most out of their experience. This week’s tip: Have some funds ready to buy further downturns.
Market expert Marcel Pechman then carefully examines the Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down. The experts also go over some markets news to bring you up to date on the latest regarding the top two cryptocurrencies.
After Marcel’s market analysis, our resident experts discuss whether your SOL is safe and the latest updates on the Solana hack. We also discuss why the network has been victim to so many hacks and downtimes. What exactly do these exploits mean for the Solana platform and if you should be worried.
Lastly, we’ve got insights from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, a platform for crypto traders who want to stay one step ahead of the market. The analysts use Cointelegraph Markets Pro to identify two altcoins that stood out this week: Radicle’s RAD and DigiByte’s DGB.
Do you have a question about a coin or topic not covered here? Don’t worry. Join the YouTube chat room, and write your questions there. The person with the most interesting comment or question will be given a 1 month free subscription to markets Pro worth $100!
The Market Report streams live every Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET (4:00 pm UTC), so be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.
Singapore, Singapore , Aug. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the ZepetoX team (ZTX, ZepetoX.io) announced its foray into the web3 space, sharing its vision to build an open world that empowers creators and communities to build, play and earn.
ZepetoX is the crypto metaverse initiative jointly incubated by ZEPETO – Asia’s largest metaverse platform with over 320 million registered users – alongside leading global blockchain organizations including Jump Crypto.
As the sole blockchain project comprehensively backed by ZEPETO, ZepetoX will have exclusive ties to ZEPETO in terms of IP including technological, design, and content assets as well as bridges to facilitate user onboarding between the two platforms. ZepetoX’s blockchain development efforts will be advised by Jump.
“ZepetoX is our official venture into the blockchain industry. We feel that web3 opportunities should be advanced through a crypto-native approach, which is why we are excited to have Jump as a contributor to developing a new platform that would have exclusive connections to ZEPETO. Overall, we believe that ZepetoX can build the ideal web3 platform to not only bring blockchain to our existing users but also to expand our footprint in the blockchain space through various disruptive initiatives,” said Daewook Kim, CEO of Naver Z – the operating entity of ZEPETO.
“We are excited to support ZepetoX’s efforts aimed at onboarding new audiences into the rapidly growing crypto space. ZEPETO’s expertise and technological know-hows accumulated over the past years from building an immersive social platform will serve as a springboard for ZepetoX,” said Saurabh Sharma, Partner at Jump Crypto.
Building on the Solana network, ZepetoX will offer a web-based 3D open world with varying levels of gamification integrated as well as opportunities for users to monetize via ownership of digital assets and social interaction. Ultimately, ZepetoX aims to empower self-expression through customizable avatars and lands that can be equipped with NFTs from a rich collection of assets created by diverse creators, DAOs, or communities.
“I am thrilled to see IP powerhouses like ZepetoX choosing to build their metaverse on Solana,” said Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder of Solana. “Projects like ZepetoX create new pathways for onboarding millions of users to web3.”
“Our global team brings a depth of crypto native experiences and our goal is to build on the foundation of ZEPETO to spearhead the adoption of blockchain among metaverse users, developers, and creators,” said co-CEO of ZepetoX, Chris Chang.
In the coming months, ZepetoX will launch its first land sale. The lands will be tradable on the ZepetoX marketplace, which will feature a variety of different NFTs as the open world project evolves. Further details on the sale will be available on the ZepetoX website in the coming weeks.
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About ZepetoX: ZepetoX (ZTX) is a web3 company building an immersive content-driven platform for users to create, trade digital assets and enjoy social interaction. Founded in 2022, ZepetoX is the blockchain initiative of ZEPETO, widely regarded as the largest Asia-based metaverse platform boasting over 320 million lifetime users with over 2.5 billion virtual fashion items sold.
