On Saturday 11th May 2019, Phil Chen, head of decentralisation at HTC, told the Magical Crypto Conference that the smartphone manufacturer, will be releasing a smartphone with the ability to run a ‘full Bitcoin node’ out the box. The phone in question is the impending Exodus 1s – the follow up to last year’s Exodus 1. It is said to cost in the region of $300.

To accompany the ability to host a full Bitcoin node, HTC have stated their Exodus 1s phone will also come equipped with a software development kit (SDK). Said SDK will be able to tap into the HTC Zion Vault crypto wallet.

Another interesting announcement from HTC is the fact that they also intend to open source the code to their social key recovery system.

Phil Chen, also told the Magical Crypto Conference that the company is looking to release the device by the end of Q3 2019.

Why Run a Bitcoin Node From Your Phone?

This is a question I can imagine people to be asking themselves so I will try to shed some light. The obvious point is the fact that more nodes on the Bitcoin network means an increased resiliency for the Bitcoin blockchain

On this subject Phil Chen told the Magical Crypto conference that running a node could be the “most important” of the Bitcoin blockchain as each node helps to “secure the network”. He also states that each node acts as a “verifier of every single transaction” within a block. A block being a batch of transactions occurring on the Bitcoin blockchain.

HTC seem to be dedicated to enhancing the adoption of the decentralised world and their latest smartphone proves this. On the topic of decentralisation, Phil Chen had the following to say:

“…we’re building technology for the open, neutral, borderless, decentralised and censorship-resistant world.”

Love, peace and happiness.