The creator of the Litecoin cryptocurrency, Charlie Lee, will be advising HTC on its first foray into the world of blockchain smartphones, according to a recent tweet from the industry veteran. Lee says he has already met with the team behind HTC Exodus on the matter and that the device will also support the Lightning Network (LN) natively, as well as Bitcoin. There’s still no word on exactly when the device will launch, with HTC confirming back in May that it will land by the end of the third quarter of the year. However, the addition of LN means that HTC is taking a long-term approach to its blockchain handset since that tech was created to allow both speed and scalability in the interconnectivity of any services running on a blockchain. The Lightcoin executive says that his role as an advisor is to ensure that the HTC Exodus doesn’t overcomplicate the technology while still keeping everything secure, in order to allow for a large-scale adoption of the platform.
The security stems from the fact that the ledger is public and predominantly immutable, meaning that it can’t be changed without the changes being obvious to all parties involved. Lightning Network will improve on that further by allowing various transactions across nodes without sacrificing speed or increasing security risk. Each phone will act as its own node. Taken in combination, that all seems to suggest that the Exodus will work with a high degree of interoperability between effectively any blockchain-based software. Although the OEM hasn’t provided a lot of exact details about which apps will be included, a trading-style game about collecting cats called Cryptokitties has been confirmed as part of the pre-installed software package. Other blockchain games and third-party apps will almost certainly follow and there have also been reports about the smartphone offering some VIVE VR features.
As to the HTC device itself, not many details leaked out about its internal specs or other characteristics. Its blockchain design will see it based on a shared ledger that records transactions, tracks assets – including software – and possibly a lot more in order to ensure the security of those. All of that will form a basis for software such as mobile tools, data storage, digital wallets, and other apps on HTC’s upcoming device.
Met the HTC Exodus team last week and was really excited to hear the phone will support LTC and Lightning Network on Litecoin natively! I will be an advisor as I see having a secure crypto phone that makes LN simple is needed for mass adoption.
P.S. No, they will not remove BTC. https://t.co/WQcygPVst0
— Charlie Lee [LTC⚡] (@SatoshiLite) July 30, 2018