Blockchain Phones – How Do They Work?

Blockchain technology has been around for about a decade now. The innovative technology has been the underlying force for many developments, including cryptocurrencies. Recently, experts in the tech field have been looking for ways to incorporate blockchain in different industries. There have been several groundbreaking inventions, and crypto phones are the latest additions.

Crypto phones only recently came into the crypto space. However, there are already several handsets with significant-tech players joining the recent craze. So, what are crypto phones, and how different are they from regular mobiles? In this guide, we will take a look into blockchain phones and how they operate.

What are Blockchain Phones?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of blockchain phones, let’s have a look at the technology behind them. A blockchain is a database that is encrypted and validated by an entire community instead of a central authority. The database usually has no copy and contains a list of transactions in blocks that are shared over a network of computing devices.

Each user on the network has both a public and a private key. Users can use both of these keys as a digital signature to create new blocks to add to the database. Users on the network have to agree to a new block before it’s added to the database, and once it is, no single user can alter it.

Blockchain technology has better security measures in place, making it ideal for digital technologies like cryptocurrencies, and now crypto phones.

Blockchain phones are not that different from regular phones. However, crypto phones use blockchain technology to ensure that they are more secure. These phones vary in design but mostly aim to provide users with a way to store all their data. They, therefore, dispel the need for having a third-party company such as Google and Apple.

The Idea Behind Blockchain Phones

Phil Chen is the decentralized chief officer at HTC, the first company to design a blockchain phone. Speaking about the design, he said that the idea behind these phones stemmed from the fact that people didn’t own their digital data and had no digital identities.

All data on the internet, be it browsing data, behavioral data, or economic data, belongs to one of the many companies that offer us free services like Google and Facebook. However, these services are not free, and most people don’t understand that the price to pay for them is the data they collect.

As such, people don’t own their data and have no digital privacy. Given all the developments since the introduction of the internet, it is quite disheartening. Therefore, HTC sought to design a phone, EXODUS, that would allow people to own private keys. They achieve this by including a secure parallel micro-operating system.

One of the most significant applications of blockchain phones is allowing users to hold their cryptos. However, according to Chen, blockchain phones are the first step to allowing people to own digital identities and data.

Advantages of Blockchain Phones

So, how different are these phones from regular ones? And do you really need one? Here are some of the reasons why you should consider buying a blockchain phone.

Better security

Most of the blockchain phones come with a built-in hardware wallet that provides additional security. The extra protection makes these phones ideal storage for digital data. These phones act as offline safes for digital data.

Although they can be used to store any digital information, they are primarily used to store private crypto keys. However, you can use these phones to store any confidential data such as passwords to various sites, credit card numbers, and others, and only access them when needed.

More portability for crypto owners

Cryptocurrency owners need a hardware wallet for all their private keys. However, these hardware wallets are often expensive and not portable, making it a challenge for owners to carry them around.

With blockchain phones, the hardware wallets are installed in the device. Therefore, crypto holders don’t have to spend extra money on buying another hardware wallet. Besides, because the wallets are in-built, crypto holders can store their digital currencies in cold storage while carrying the phone around with them.

Better DApp Access

Sure, you can download DApps on regular phones. However, blockchain phones already have the functionality built-in, making it easier and safer to access DApps on the go. One of the significant benefits of having better access to DApss is that it helps you send and earn cryptocurrencies on the go.

With better access, you also get to hold non-fungible tokens on your phone. Although this benefit is mostly applicable in online crypto games, the functionality can be quite useful in other industries. Users also benefit from secret sharing. This feature lets users distribute information in fragments to multiple users.

Conclusion

Blockchain phones may be the next best invention in the crypto world. They come with a variety of benefits stemming from the technicalities and securities provided by the blockchain technology.

Although there aren’t many such phones in the market right now, we can expect to see a blow-up in the industry. Like many other inventions that have blockchain technology as its base, there will undoubtedly be some improvements in blockchain phones, all of which will be an excellent addition to the crypto space.

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