Samsung adds Bitcoin Support to the ‘Blockchain Keystore’

Samsung, the South Korean tech giant had previously introduced a decentralized app store that’ll be preloaded on some of the Galaxy devices. The store is called the ‘Blockchain Keystore’ and according to the latest information on the Samsung developer’s website, the tech giant has now added the support for Bitcoin (BTC) alongside Korean internet giant Kakao’s Klaytn. The addition of bitcoin has spiked a lot of interest among developers.

Device and regional restrictions

The store, however, will only be available in some selected devices and regions. As per the Samsung developers website, the Blockchain Keystore will be available on Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+, S10 5G, Note 10 and Note 10+ only. The Keystore will be functional only across six jurisdictions namely Canada, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdoms.

The Keystore supported the Ethereum blockchain only when it was released initially in July 2019, as a part of the Samsung’s Blockchain and decentralized application (DApp) Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK supports various basic features like account management, data backup, payments system and digital signature facilitation. Last month the SDK received two new services, an AI-Powered digital analytics Dapp called “Jupiter” and a QR code-based peer-to-peer wallet called, “Mars”. These were later integrated into the Galaxy S10 and newer devices.

Smartphones and Blockchain

Previously, Samsung announced plans to bring cryptocurrency & blockchain features to more phones included in its Galaxy smartphone range. Senior managing director of the product strategy team at Samsung Electronics’ wireless business division, Chae Won-cheol then stated:

“We will lower barriers to new experiences by gradually expanding the number of Galaxy models that support blockchain functions. We will also expand our service target countries after Korea, the United States and Canada.”

Furthermore, Local publication Business Korea also stated that Samsung is in talks with telecom firms SK Telecom and KT Corporation to work on blockchain-based digital ID verification tools as well as other projects.

Some other notable companies that launched blockchain-powered smartphones are Taiwanese tech giant HTC with their ‘Exodus’ that launched in 2018 and the Israeli blockchain start-up Sirin Labs with their Finney blockchain smartphone, also launched in 2018.