The Samsung Galaxy S10 has an integrated cryptocurrency wallet

Samsung is one of the first major smartphone manufacturers to include a crypto-currency wallet in its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S10. The wallet allows users to store bitcoin, Ethereum and a beauty-related cryptocurrency called Cosmo Coin. It's a cold wallet, which means it's not connected to the internet.

Galaxy S10 phones also support some decentralized applications ("Dapps"). Currently, the main Samsung application available is called Cosmee. It allows users to earn Cosmo tokens in exchange for leaving beauty reviews in the app. Cosmochain, the South Korean blockchain start-up behind Cosmee, describes its application for The edge as a beauty assessment app powered by the blockchain – the blockchain is meant to be a useful way to record all the appraisals reliably.

Samsung has also announced the support of the cryptocurrency called Enjin Coin, a digital currency based on Ethereum for players founded in South Korea. He also stated that he would take charge of contactless payments using cryptocurrency.

Samsung is one of the few companies to have launched phones related to the blockchain, and its participation in this trend could influence other market players. Last year, Sirin Labs unveiled the Finney phone with a wallet to store cryptocurrency, which costs $ 1,000. Then there is the HTC Exodus, available for pre-order since last October and can only be purchased with cryptocurrency. It also has a portfolio for storing digital tokens, which is notably partitioned from the rest of the phone for added security.

Technically, it's possible to turn any Android phone into a wallet containing the keys to your digital tokens – just install the Android app for the Opera web browser. This wallet currently supports only the ether, with other chips to be added later. What would be really impressive is that the phone has additional ways to incorporate the blockchain, which we had never seen before.

For example, Phil Chen, the decentralized chief officer of HTC, has high hopes of having phones linked to the blockchain, where they could give users a way to store the keys to their online identity and of [their] his own identity. But for now, it seems that the main feature of these phones in cryptocurrency is only the cold wallet and a decentralized application center. Nevertheless, today's Samsung phones seem to be the first step towards a future where such phones are becoming more commonplace.