HTC’s Blockchain Phone Exodus Coming This Quarter

The third quarter of this year started with the beginning of July, and with it comes the announcement of early access to the HTC blockchain-powered smartphone Exodus, according to the website of the company. The price will also be known around the same time, while the phone itself should be available to the general public by the end of the year.

Phil Chen, Chief Crypto Officer of the Exodus project, told The Verge that, without specifics, the price would be “comparable” to Finney, created by Sirin Labs, which costs USD 1000. Exodus will have global availability once released and Chen added, “I want to say it will be available definitely everywhere outside of China.” The problem with China, he explained, was that everything works differently there: “China has different rules, everywhere from regulations to how Android even works in China.”

Back in May, when announcing the phone, the company said, “We envision a phone where you hold your own keys, you own your own identity and data, and your phone is the hub.” However, Chen says that this part is further in the future, while the one coming by the end of the year will be a phone with a wallet and a partnership with CryptoKitties. Details on the device’s specs aren’t available yet.

In the long term, the company will be looking for more efficient ways to mine cryptocurrency using the phone. They are already looking at different consensus protocols, and Chen says the company may release a white paper this year with more details.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Sirin Labs released a video of their Finney phone. The company doesn’t expect to start delivering phones before November: