HTC's blockchain phone, Exodus, will arrive later this year

HTC first announced Exodus, its blockchain powered smartphone, last May. The release date is now set at the end of the year and the price is about 1000 dollars.

Exodus is described by its manufacturers as "the world's first phone dedicated to decentralized applications and security". The Android smartphone will feature a secure hardware system designed to support cryptocurrency and provide peer-to-peer direct exchange at no additional cost – and no cloud.

Phil Chen, director of HTC's decentralization, told The Verge, in an interview published this week, that Exodus can be expected by the end of the year, with an official announcement of price towards the end of the third quarter. When The Verge mentioned the price of Finney, the world's first blockchain-powered phone created by Sirin Labs, which is $ 1,000, Chen said the HTC model would have a "comparable" price.

In May, Chen told Cryptovest in a separate interview, the device would be a "great opportunity to allow the user to start to own his digital identity." In the last interview, he says that such a model is not yet expected, evoking a little less ambitious model coming this year – a phone with a cryptocurrency wallet and a partnership with CryptoKitties. The cryptocurrency wallet, claims HTC, will be the first "cold wallet", which in the context of Bitcoins, refers to keeping some of the currency off-line. For the less savvy, it's a bit like keeping some of your savings in a safe rather than in the bank.

CryptoKitties, meanwhile, is an attempt to use blockchain technology to amuse himself; the very popular game allows players to buy, collect, multiply and sell different types of virtual chats. Now associated with HTC, the game will benefit from a version of the Android mobile application that will be available on the HTC U12 + smartphone, then to Exodus. It is not clear if other brands will also host the game.

The specifications for Exodus remain unknown, but Chen has confirmed that the blockchain smartphone will certainly be available "everywhere outside of China" , explaining that China will be a tougher market because of "different rules, works."

A website has been set up for anyone who wants to book what the brand describes as "The first wallet phone with recovery of key "or just stay up to date on the device and its output.