Samsung’s new Galaxy S10 key for cryptocurrency adoption
By Michael Buchanan, Blockchain Developer
Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its Galaxy line of smartphones on February 20, and included is a new feature that has cryptocurrency fans excited. The recently announced Galaxy S10 lineup of smartphones now feature the ability to securely store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Interest in cryptocurrencies has skyrocketed over the last two years as prices soared to all time highs in early 2018. Over this same period, over $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency was lost to hacks, scams and poor wallet management. Samsung’s S10 line of smartphones have the potential to significantly reduce this number by giving cryptocurrency users a new way to store their funds — an accessible, easy to use cryptocurrency wallet with biometric security inside of their phone itself.
One of the most powerful concepts of cryptocurrency is that it allows individuals to act as custodians of the currency and assets in their cryptocurrency wallet, sidestepping the need for banks or other centralized financial service providers. This has the potential to empower those with restricted access to these financial services, as well as facilitating greater financial freedom to those who reside in countries with tight capital controls. However, having absolute custody of your own funds comes with the added responsibility of storing and managing these funds in a secure manner, which can be difficult to for new users.
The advent of a secure and easy to use cryptocurrency wallet catered for end users is a game changer. Cryptocurrency hardware wallets currently on the market such as the Ledger Nano S and the Trezor are small USB powered devices that are cumbersome to use and secured only by a short PIN. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 lineup well positioned to disrupt the hardware wallet and cryptocurrency space by taking this hardware wallet concept to the next level with the addition of a biometric security layer, improvements to the user experience and the potential for streamlined integration with mobile blockchain apps.
As the cryptocurrency industry matures, tokens, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are being used increasingly to represent real-world instruments, including legal identity, physical assets, securities, debt, loans, derivatives and much more. As new industries adopt blockchain technology and the scope of blockchain based applications continues to grow, proper security of cryptocurrency wallets will only become more important — and it looks like Samsung is getting ready to capitalize on that.
Samsung’s clout and global reach in the tech sector is not to be understated — they are projected to sell over 50 million Galaxy smartphones in 2019 if last year’s sales numbers are repeated. Although the impact that the dissemination of 50 million secure cryptocurrency wallets will have on the still-nascent crypto industry is still to be seen, the facilitation of easy and secure storage of cryptocurrency for new users is very likely to assist adoption of cryptocurrency and DApp usage by removing the learning curve associated with key storage and allowing anyone with the latest Galaxy smartphone to seamlessly interact with blockchain applications directly from their phone.
Originally published at www.digitalx.com.
