HTC continues to make its push to become the go-to maker of blockchain phones.
The Tawainese smartphone maker announced today that it has integrated Kyber Network into its flagship blockchain phone, the Exodus One, to enable decentralized trading of Ethereum tokens. The HTC Exodus One will now offer token swaps without using a centralized exchange.
Coming on the heels of the Binance hack, which showed just how vulnerable even the biggest centralized exchanges are, the move is likely to please the blockchain purists who argue that decentralized exchanges are the way forward. After all, keeping users’ private keys stored on the Exodus One should mitigate the risk of cryptocurrency thefts.
The announcement comes just after HTC revealed it will soon unveil a new phone that will be capable of running a full Bitcoin node. However, some pundits have pointed out that high-end Android phones are already capable of doing the same, suggesting this might just be a clever marketing ploy.
HTC first revealed the Exodus One in May last year and launched the phone in October. The company initially only made it available to buy using a number of cryptocurrencies, but then opened it up to sales in fiat money in February. While sales reportedly met HTC’s expectations, they didn’t manage to turn around its fledgling fortunes: 2018 was the company’s worst year ever.
Kyber Network is a blockchain-based protocol that allows for the exchange of Ethereum tokens without the use of a third party. At the end of last year, it created a version of Bitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain, called Wrapped Bitcoin, which launched in January.
With the swapping of on-chain funds and Ethereum-based Bitcoin, the tightly woven crypto ecosystem is about to get a whole lot tighter.