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The new HTC Exodus 1 blockchain-enabled phone is now available for pre-order — but in a surprising twist, the company announced the new phone must be purchased with either the bitcoin or ethereum cryptocurrencies.

HTC, which has been struggling against rivals Samsung and Apple in recent year, wants the privacy-focused Exodus 1 flagship device to help shift its strategy on to new technology.

The phone is priced at 0.15 bitcoin or 4.78 ether (the tradable token of the ethereum network) — which works out at just under $1,000 at current conversion rates.

"Our vision is to expand the blockchain ecosystem by creating the world’s first phone dedicated to decentralized applications and security. With the release of the HTC Exodus we can now make this a reality," HTC wrote in a blog post.

"With over two decades of experience manufacturing the world’s leading smartphones, and shipping over 100 million phones, we believe we can help reshape the internet with the HTC Exodus. Join us and together we will make decentralization a reality."

HTC's new phone, which was announced at the CoinDesk Consensus conference in May, has its own cryptocurrency wallet called Zion, allowing it the new phone to function as a hardware cryptocurrency wallet.

The Exodus 1 will start shipping by December and HTC also said it is looking for developers to participate in the early-access version.

The phone will be available in 34 countries and regions, including the US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, the UK, Austria, Norway, and other parts of Europe. The new HTC phone won't be available in China, which has taken a strict approach to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.