Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has just announced it plans to launch its new blockchain-based phone in the third quarter of the year.
According to a press release shared by the company, the firm's new smartphone, known as Exodus 1, "will be the first smartphone with full node capability" to include the full Bitcoin blockchain.
Phil Chen, HTC's decentralized CEO, said:
"Exodus 1 gave people the possibility to own their own keys, now we are giving them the opportunity to run their own node. We are democratizing access to the technology for a free world."
This means the company's new device will allow its users to run a full node and host Bitcoin's entire blockchain on the phone. However, this is not that easy due to its enormous size. Chen said:
"Bitcoin's blockchain weighs about 200 GB [and] increases about 60 GB every year."
The phone can run a full node, however, it will need an additional SD card to do so. In addition, since running a full now requires a large amount of data, the phone maker recommends users to be connected to a stable Wi-Fi connection.
HTC also admitted this functionality might drain the device's battery pretty quickly.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.