The Exodus project is led by HTC's newly appointed Decentralized Chief Officer Phil Chen, who is best known for starting the VR project that eventually became the Vive. "I want to see a world where the end consumers can truly own their data (browsing history, identity, assets, wallets, emails, messaging, etc) without the need for central authorities," Chen wrote in a blog post. "There is a lot of work ahead of us, but I believe the mobile hardware layer can contribute significantly to our new decentralized world."

Obviously, HTC isn't the first to announce such an initiative. Sirin Labs already has a list of specs for its Finney blockchain smartphone, though it's still missing a specific launch date. Earlier this year, it was rumored that Huawei was also considering its own blockchain device based on Sirin Labs' system. There's also the BitVault and Blacture that both claim to be the world's first blockchain phone, though neither are available just yet. For now, HTC is taking its time with its Exodus, and we'll be hearing more partnership announcements over the next few months.