Embattled Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei, is rumored to be in serious talks with Sirin Labs to bring its handset into the cryptoverse, possibly incorporating the Swiss company’s cold storage wallet along with its system to instantly convert fiat to crypto. This comes at a time when, in the US, at least one regulator is insisting carriers drop Huawei out of security concerns.
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Huawei Said to be in Talks with Sirin Labs, Maker of The Finney
What if the world’s third largest smartphone company distinguished its product by teaming with a crypto-savvy phone operating system, allowing it to provide cold storage and a way to instantly convert fiat to crypto? That’s the tantalizing rumor out of Bloomberg this week.
China’s Huawei Technologies Ltd “is considering developing a mobile phone that will be able to run blockchain-based applications, according to two people familiar with the plans,” the story ran. Applications by way of Sirin Labs’ SIRIN OS would parallel the set’s existing Android software. And though neither company has confirmed negotiations proper, Sirin took to Twitter and forwarded Bloomberg’s story.
Sirin Labs is most famous for 2016’s Solarin smartphone, retailing for $16,000, and, more recently, its successful initial coin offering (ICO) last year in preparation to launch The Finney (named after Hal Finney), a smartphone claimed to include an embedded cold storage function and a way to automatically convert fiat to crypto. According to Sirin, preorders for the phone are already more than 25,000.
US Carriers Urged to Dump Huawei
“The plans would mark the first foray of a major smartphone maker into blockchain, the decentralized ledger used to record cryptocurrency transactions, potentially bringing the technology closer to the mass market,” the report stated. Sirin Labs’ Telegram revealed back in February, “Amazing meeting just concluded between Sirin Labs and Huawei. Among other things discussed was the possibility of cooperating together to bring blockchain technology to the masses in a secure way.”
Meanwhile, Huawei is coming under attack from US regulators such as the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) who believe the company to be a security, espionage threat. In fact, FCC chairman Ajit Pai released a statement proposing a freeze on funds to providers who use Chinese companies like Huawei.
Mr. Pai urges barring “the use of money from the FCC’s Universal Service Fund to purchase equipment or services from companies that pose a national security threat to United States communications networks or the communications supply chain.” This follows his earlier statement to congress where he insisted lawmakers consider the “security threat that Huawei and other Chinese technology companies pose to our communications networks.”
Assuming the smartphone, cold storage wallet collaboration goes forward, chances are it will never see the US market as a result.
Do you think such a phone will materialize, or is it just hype? Let us know in the comments!
Images via Pixabay, Huawei, Twitter.
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