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Bitcoin Global News (BGN)

February 26, 2019 -- ADVFN Crypto NewsWire -- Blockchain-based phones are nothing new at this point. Just look at the major amount of publicity that Samsung is getting due to the upcoming launch of the Galaxy S10 phone, which will reportedly feature a native crypto wallet with apparent support of all ERC-20 tokens. On top of this, the phone will include the capability to run Dapps and even complete “contactless” payments with its’ hosted cryptocurrencies.

Even though the S10 is being introduced by a major global technology company, it is actually no different from past, similar offerings like Sirin Labs’ “Finney” phone for one key reason. Until today, an affordable blockchain phone did not exist.

The S10 averages an MSRP of $908 or so across multiple sources and the Finney sits around $900.  Contrary to what most technology companies may try to say to the average person via flashy advertisements, neither of these price points are affordable.

Yesterday, Electroneum’s announcement has changed all of this, possibly for the better. Blockchain-based phones are no longer only for high net worth individuals or those willing to over-extend their credit for the latest gadgets.

In short, according to CoinDesk, Electroneum will be releasing an $80 smartphone that has a built-in crypto mining capability. The kicker is, they did not create this device to sell to all interested consumers across the world.

The phone, which is called the M1, was reportedly made specifically for emergent markets where the public exposure to cryptocurrencies is almost non-existent and the average net worth is much smaller than in Europe and the United States.

According to Electroneum(via CoinDesk), their launch will begin in South Africa with the phone becoming available through local stores and South African Amazon. Even though the device’s mining apparently only equates to an average profit of $3 per month, here’s to hoping that this play for market share works in the favor of greater crypto adoption.

By: BGN Editorial Staff