- Samsung’s Keystore now supports bitcoin along with Ethereum and Klytn
- Only select devices feature the cryptocurrency wallet
- Other electronics companies like HTC and Sirin Labs joined Samsung in delving into the crypto and blockchain world
On August 14, 2019, Samsung, the South Korean electronics company, added support for bitcoin Keystore. Keystore is a decentralized online application (DApp) store. Earlier on, Keystore was only supporting Ethereum blockchain, but with the change, bitcoin is added to the list.
According to Samsung’s website, the cryptocurrency wallet now will support not only ethereum but also bitcoin and Kakao’s Klytn blockchain, a native blockchain in South Korea. There was no announcement made by Samsung about the addition of bitcoin to its cryptocurrency wallet, Keystore. Instead, they were rather discreet, which has led people to believe that Samsung may add support for other cryptocurrencies in the future in the same way.
Samsung’s Keystore was released in July this year as part of Samsung’s involvement in blockchain technology. It offers account management, payment, back up as well as facilitates digital signature. This is to say that modern galaxy devices users will be able to run android applications which will interact directly with Keystore. However, the SDK is not yet ready for implementation, but users will have full access to the service by the end of the year.
Only Selected Devices are Supported
The support by Samsung is limited to mobile devices that have the cryptocurrency wallet. These devices include the Galaxy S10, S10+, S105G, S10e as well as the recently launched devices, Note 10 and Note 10+.
More information about blockchain Keystone state that it is restricted to only seven countries. These countries are Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, and Germany. The Samsung blockchain Keystone is preloaded to the few selected devices. Thus, it cannot be installed on other devices, not even through Samsung’s Galaxy app store.
Samsung, however, states that it is working to see to it that the cryptocurrency wallet added to the budget Galaxy smartphones shortly. Samsung has been slowly but steadily entering the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology space. The company filed its first crypto wallet trademark in December 2018 and is set on making its mark in the blockchain technology space. Earlier this year in April, Samsung is reported to have invested a total of $2.9 million for its cryptocurrency wallet ledger.
Electronics Startups Embrace Blockchain Technology
Samsung is not alone among electronic companies venturing into blockchain technology. HTC, a Taiwanese electronics company, is right on track. Last year, the company released a blockchain-powered smartphone going by the name Exodus. Sirin Labs of Israeli also produced the Finney blockchain smartphone last year. They did not have much luck as it was later affected by the 2018-2019 cryptocurrency bear market which forced the startup to lay off 25% of its employ.
