Samsung, the South Korean conglomerate and maker of smartphones, is becoming one of the biggest cryptocurrency and bitcoin supporters throughout the globe.
Samsung Is Doing a Big Thing for Crypto
The company – which at press time, accounts for nearly 20 percent of the world’s total smartphone sales – has begun releasing its new 5G smartphones which provide blockchain and bitcoin support for users. Each phone comes equipped with a digital wallet that owners can utilize should they ever decide to start storing digital funds in the future.
On its website, the company writes:
We created a secure processor dedicated to protecting your PIN, password, pattern and Blockchain Private Key. Combined with the Knox platform, security is infused into every part of your phone from hardware to software, so private data stays private.
The company appears to be big on security, and with news like the recent IOTA hack in the limelight, such a focus couldn’t be timelier. Crypto crime is still a big issue within the industry and is a long-time preventer of cryptocurrencies becoming mainstream. No matter how strong security has become over the past few years, it seems like there are still malicious actors out there capable of tearing down walls to get their fingers on crypto funds they didn’t earn.
In addition, Samsung – by giving users control over their private keys – is taking the idea of decentralization seriously. Keys are to be mastered by their users, thereby giving owners the financial freedom that blockchain is supposed to grant them.
Samsung has long been a proponent of digital currencies, releasing what’s called the Blockchain Keystore in the year 2019 that provided support for Ethereum-based tokens and digital coins. Last August, the company also added support for bitcoin.
Samsung’s crypto wallet system was initially created in December of 2018 and was the subject of some controversy. The company had long denied that it was building the wallet yet filed a patent for the system just after Christmas of that year.
The filing explained at the time:
Computer software for use as a cryptocurrency wallet; computer software for cryptocurrency transfer and payments using blockchain technology; computer application software for smartphones, namely, software to allow users to transfer cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology and pay via third party’s application software.
It’s Always Been There to Help
Samsung also made it possible for retailers in the Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia) to accept cryptocurrency payments for goods and services by pairing itself with a company called Cop Pay. At first, the partnership was limited to users of Samsung’s goods, meaning they could purchase materials with crypto sold by Samsung only.
However, both companies made it clear that they were planning to add further merchants to the platform in the coming future.