With four different Galaxy S10s, four Galaxy Note 10s, and the impending launches of two Galaxy Folds, Samsung’s flagship lineup for this year has officially reached ten phones. Perhaps this is too many, but Samsung doesn’t seem to think so. It’s now releasing a blockchain-branded variant of the Galaxy Note 10 to bring in customers holding out for a cryptocurrency-focused Samsung flagship.
Samsung reaches peak flagship with a blockchain-branded Galaxy Note 10
The previous ten flagships this year weren’t enough
The previous ten flagships this year weren’t enough
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Galaxy Note 10 variant, which is only available in South Korea, will be marketed as a “KlaytnPhone.” It’s named for a blockchain platform made by the blockchain arm of Kakao, a South Korean messaging company. WSJ says the KlaytnPhone will have a crypto wallet and blockchain apps built in, and will also give users a “certain amount” of Klay, a cryptocurrency made by Kakao.
Having a wallet and blockchain apps built into a phone isn’t exactly new
Having a wallet and blockchain apps built into a phone isn’t exactly new — Samsung included a crypto wallet in some Galaxy S10s, HTC already offers a blockchain phone, and the Journal also says other Android phones can run Klaytn’s blockchain apps. But, according to the Journal, only the KlaytnPhone will “boast the blockchain platform’s full breadth of transaction services.”
Otherwise, the KlaytnPhone has the same hardware and is expected to have the same price as non-blockchain Galaxy Note 10s, reports the Journal. (The KlaytnPhone will also reportedly show the Klaytn logo when it’s booted up and shut down, just in case you forget which version of the Galaxy Note 10 you have.)
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
