Samsung Galaxy S10 Crypto Integration Would Likely Fall Flat (For Now)

This news has the cryptocurrency community buzzing with excitement in hopes that millions of people who may have never heard of or used cryptocurrency before will be exposed to the technology and ideology behind digital currencies. Rumors of crypto integration on the new Galaxy began swirling back in December after the Korea-based tech giant filed for cryptocurrency and blockchain software trademarks associated with mobile devices. Samsung at the time mostly offered no comments to confirm or deny the speculation.

Mobile Crypto Wallet

The first to show photographic evidence of the cryptocurrency wallet integration on the S10 appears to have come from Gregory Blake — @GregiPfister89 on Twitter.

2. pic.twitter.com/BkmPC9IC8a

— Gregory Blake (@GregiPfister89) January 22, 2019

The thread contains three photos which appear to be from a setup guide for what Samsung is calling the ‘Samsung Blockchain KeyStore,’ to be used for storing and securing cryptocurrency and private keys. The second photo shows two options for the user to import an already existing wallet, or to create a new wallet with Samsung Blockchain KeyStore. Quite curiously, the only asset listed under the tab which reads ‘Supported Cryptocurrencies’ is Ethereum (ETH). Ethereum is currently the third highest ranked cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization at $12.2 billion. If the wallet integration news is true, it is most likely that other major cryptocurrencies will be supported such as Bitcoin (BTC) and perhaps Ripple (XRP). The picture of the wallets also shows golden colored coins with the capital letter ‘B’ on them, very similar to Bitcoin’s signature logo. The third photo looks to be taken from a settings or properties menu and also shows the ‘Samsung Blockchain KeyStore’ option for securing and managing private keys.

The Best Time?

There will be no way of knowing if the photos above are legitimate until the public release of the S10, or Samsung confirms the claims directly. The new phone is scheduled to be released in less than a month, on Feb 20. There are many cryptocurrency enthusiasts out there who are prophesying that this could become a massive catalyst to mainstream adoption, by putting cryptocurrency in the hands of people who might never have been interested otherwise. Samsung’s previous galaxy model, the S9, was one of the worst selling in the company’s history of manufacturing smartphones — selling less than 1 million units in the first two months after release. The cheapest model S10 phones will cost a little over $700. Most likely the majority of S10s will be purchased right off the bat by people who are familiar with new technology and have at least a basic understanding of cryptocurrency. It would definitely be a positive for the cryptocurrency community to have a device which allows the existing crypto users more control and ease of use of their funds while offering a simple on-ramp for individuals who have been on the fence.

The Worst Time?

The timing with the current cryptocurrency market, however, is not spectacular. After the bull run at the end of 2017 put cryptocurrency on the map and in the mainstream media, people who had no idea what Bitcoin was, watched as the price climbed to nearly $20,000. In the proceeding bear market which still remains to this day, those same people watched the price of BTC crash back down more than 80 percent from its all-time high. This only led to unknowledgeable onlookers writing the asset off as a Ponzi scheme or scam. It is doubtful that those same people would dive headfirst into setting up and using a cryptocurrency wallet that they found installed as a default application on their new smartphone. Security is another critical concern involved with protecting one’s digital funds. Cold storage devices are much less adverse to outside interference and theft. Cryptocurrency security is also largely untested thus far on mobile devices and being constantly connected to the internet does not make for the safest way to store funds at this point in time. [bctt tweet=”Crypto veterans won’t use it for fear of security flaws — nocoiners won’t use it because they believe crypto to be a scam.” username=”beincrypto”] Do you think the new Samsung Galaxy S10 will indeed come with a cryptocurrency wallet integrated into the system? If true, do you think it will it have any impact on mainstream adoption? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!