HTC Launches Limited Run of Smartphone With Crypto Exchange Binance

Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC will launch a limited edition of the Exodus 1 featuring services by major global crypto exchange Binance.

The Binance Edition Exodus 1 supports the Binance public blockchain, Binance Chain, as well as its decentralized counterpart Binance DEX, the firms announced Nov. 12.Exodus 1's native crypto wallet is integrated with Binance DEXHTC and Binance announced the news at a Binance Super Meetup in Singapore attended by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and CFO Wei Zhou, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph.

The Binance Edition Exodus 1 smartphone is purportedly the world's first blockchain phone to integrate the Binance Chain blockchain.

The Binance Edition Exodus 1 will integrate its native Zion Vault crypto wallet app with Binance DEX, allowing users to trade crypto on the platform from the smartphone.

The new smartphone will come preloaded with Binance's app and its Trust Wallet, the firms stated.

Priced at $599, the HTC-Binance cryptophone will soon be available for purchase on the official HTC website.

Customers will be able to pay the equivalent price in crypto.

Zhao notes major interconnection between smartphones and blockchainPhil Chen, decentralized chief officer at HTC, said that the company shares Binance's vision for borderless finance, adding that the firm is excited to support Binance Chain and DEX. Chen also expressed hope that the partnership will bring a "Completely new paradigm of digital asset exchanges and corresponding interactions."

Zhao noted the major interconnection between the global smartphone and blockchain industries, saying that smartphones will play a crucial role in the mass adoption of crypto, while crypto will make every smartphone both a point-of-sale terminal and payment device, cutting out most other middlemen.

Last year, HTC first launched the presales of its Exodus 1 smartphone in Bitcoin and Ether.