A new niche developing in the cryptocurrency space is the blockchain and cryptocurrency empowered phones. Some companies have started integrating cryptocurrency options, such as Samsung, while others have gone full blockchain, like Sirin Labs’ Finney.

One such competitor that sits somewhere in the middle of the spectrum is the HTC Exodus 1. And now, to increase their offering, they have teamed up with Bitcoin.com to support Bitcoin Cash on the phone additionally.

The Bitcoin.com wallet app will now come preloaded on the phone alongside HTC’s Zion Vault which does not offer support for Bitcoin Cash. This additional support for the Bitcoin.com wallet will, however, open up the phone’s ability to store an additional cryptocurrency.

The Exodus 1 currently features a hardware-backed key management platform called Zion. With the Bitcoin.com wallet app there will be an integration with Zion to allow users to store private keys directly on the hardware wallet of the device.

In a statement, HTC’s chief decentralization officer Phil Chen called the update a natural next step for the phone. “The Zion Vault is happy to support BCH natively in hardware so security goes hand-in-hand in the BCH blockchain as an alternative to dominant payment rails and platforms,” he said.

The Exodus 1’s offerings thus far have been quite limited. Prior to last February, HTC only accepted Bitcoin and ethereum. The price point of the phone has also been viewed as on the expensive side – the phone is priced at $699.

However, this addition of another cryptocurrency, as well as advancements made since it was first announced at Consensus 2018, points towards the company being serious about trying to get a foothold in this niche.

More so, HTC is working on its second generation of the Exodus 1, the Exodus 1s which is reported to be less than half the price and presumably newer, and more advanced that its pioneering predecessor.

HTC may well see this as their shot to reenter the dominated mobile phone space with a new wave of technology on the horizon. Apple and Samsung have locked up much of the market, causing others, such as Nokia and HTC, to scratch their heads about how they stay relevant.

Samsung is climbing onto the blockchain bandwagon, while Apple is lagging; this may be enough to see HTC and others claim back a share of the market going into the future.