Samsung at Last Adds Bitcoin Support to Its Blockchain Phones

Samsung has integrated bitcoin (BTC) functionality on its blockchain-enabled smartphones.

The move comes months after the flagship Galaxy S10 range was launched in March with a "Blockchain Keystore" offering cryptocurrency storage and transactions for ether (ETH) and related ERC-20 tokens, but which notably excluded the number one cryptocurrency by market cap.

The South Korean tech giant has now included bitcoin features to the developer kit (SDK) for several S10 models (S10e, S10, S10+ and S10 5G), as well as the Note10 and Note10+ devices.

The SDK allows Android devices to link blockchain addresses to the Blockchain Keystore, sign cryptocurrency transactions and check the Keystore status.

The blockchain features of the phones are still currently only available in limited jurisdictions, listed as: Canada, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the U.S. and the U.K.

The SDK additions also include support for the native cryptocurrency (klay) of the Klaytn blockchain recently launched by Korean messaging app giant Kakao. In the last week, Kakao's blockchain subsidiary GroundX has teased an upcoming wallet for klay called Klip, and also revealed its first decentralized app (dapp) partners.

Samsung itself now lists 17 dapps in its Keystore, and is developing it own blockchain based on ethereum. It may ultimately release its own token, the firm has suggested.

Galaxy S10 image courtesy of Samsung