By CCN.com: BGR, a U.S.-based technology publication, reported that a Samsung insider leaked images of the new Galaxy S10 model equipped with a native Bitcoin wallet.

The Galaxy S10 has not yet been released to the public, but Samsung reportedly distributed the model to accessory makers and merchants.

Galaxy S10 with a Crypto Wallet?

According to Gregory Blake, who released several screenshots of a suspected Galaxy S10 prototype, the new model of the South Korean mobile phone manufacturing giant has an integrated feature called “Samsung Blockchain KeyStore” that enables users to have full control over their private keys and crypto funds.

Once the Blockchain KeyStore is authenticated and enabled on the device, users are able to begin sending and receiving cryptocurrency using the native crypto wallet on the mobile phone.

The screenshot shared by Blake revealed Ethereum as the only supported cryptocurrency on the device, possibly because the phone is still a prototype. However, one image included graphics that appeared to be bitcoins, so it’s likely more currencies would be included at launch.

Galaxy s10 with crypto wallet? pic.twitter.com/6IICujXEnm — Gregory Blake (@GregiPfister89) January 22, 2019

Verifying that the phone in question is a Galaxy S10, a technology journalist at BGR Chris Smith explained:

We know it’s a Galaxy S10 phone because the punch-hole camera is placed near the top right corner. The A8s’ selfie cam is on the left side. Also, we know it’s a Galaxy S10 phone rather than a Galaxy S10+ model because it features a single-lens selfie camera. It’s clear the handset isn’t the Lite version, because the screen has curved edges, rather than flat.

Previously, CCN.com reported on Dec 13, 2018, that Samsung plans to integrate a crypto cold storage into its S10 model following the company’s filing of trademarks for Samsung blockchain.

At the time, SamMobile executive editor Adnan Farooqui confirmed that the company is developing a cold storage crypto wallet and intends to integrate it in the Galaxy S10.

Why it Makes Sense for Samsung to Integrate a Bitcoin Wallet

In July of last year, Samsung Insights reported that the most secure device to run a cryptocurrency wallet on is a mobile phone due to the presence of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE).

Dissimilar to laptops, PCs, and other types of devices, smartphones have a native environment that operates independently of the memory and storage. As such, data stored in a TEE cannot be altered by the operating system, completely eliminating the possibility of a security breach affecting data stored in the trusted environment.

By utilizing a TEE on a mobile phone, a crypto wallet can operate much more securely and efficiently than laptops and desktops, which still remain as a popular platform for wallets and exchanges.

“This is why smartphones have an edge over laptops and desktops for cryptocurrency wallets: without the benefits of the hardware-based TEE, the keys are more vulnerable,” Joel Snyder, a senior IT consultant and Samsung Insights contributor, said. “There is a significant caveat: a naïve wallet developer might choose to simply store the keys on the normal internal storage of the phone, in which case there’s little additional protection from using the smartphone platform. Or the wallet itself might be malware, in which case all bets are off.”

But with the right wallet leveraging the benefits of smartphone TEE, there’s no place safer to store your money.

If the official Galaxy S10 model launches with a native Bitcoin and Ethereum wallet, it may pose a significant threat to companies such as HTC and projects working on blockchain phones that exclusively support cryptocurrencies.

Featured Image from Shutterstock