HTC’s Blockchain Phone Exodus Partners With Opera Browser, Adds Multiple DApps

Blockchain-centric smartphone Exodus, developed by consumer electronics giant HTC, announced that it has partnered with web browser Opera as well as added support for multiple DApps. The news was revealed in a series of tweets on Feb. 26 from the firm’s official Twitter.

The company announced support for Etheremon and Decentraland DApps in its ZIONVault integrated cold storage. Moreover, according to a Verge report, the smartphone now also supports a Taiwanese DApp called Numbers.

Numbers reportedly tracks user data and allows users to sell their data to third parties for cryptocurrency while retaining both control over the data that is shared and transparency into the companies interested in the data.

The phone’s previous blockchain-related compatibility included support for a crypto wallet and for the CryptoKitties DApp.

Exodus’ addition of the Opera browser, on the other hand, lets users access the browser’s integrated crypto wallet to make payments and micropayments on websites that support it. The Verge reports that Exodus currently only supports payments in Ethereum (ETH), but has plans to add Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) in the near future.

Phil Chen, HTC’s chief decentralized officer, told the Verge that:

“Now you could pay an amount like 0.00002 ETH [equivalent to about $0.0027]. And never in the history of micropayments did that make sense. There’d be a transaction fee or you’d have to share revenue with the app store.”

Chen is also quoted in the article as stating that the next step for the firm is making each phone what he defines as a “partial node” of a blockchain, to facilitate trading between phone owners.

The Verge also reports that starting in March, Exodus will be available for purchase with fiat currencies, whereas previously the firm only accepted crypto.

As Cointelegraph reported at the beginning of February, the Android version of major web browser Opera now integrates a function that lets its users purchase Ethereum through the browser.

Also, news recently broke that Samsung's new smartphone, the Galaxy S10, will include storage for private cryptocurrency keys.