The Exodus 1 also includes a so-called secret enclave on the device that will store a user's cryptocurrency keys and is kept protected from the wider Android operating system. “Think of it as a micro OS that runs in parallel with Android,” Phil Chen, HTC’s decentralized chief officer, told CNBC. “It basically is a wallet, but the wallet, what it does is hold your private keys.” Bitcoin and cryptocurrency private keys are what allow holders of digital tokens to access and move them to other wallets.
Often these are held by wallet providers or exchanges on behalf of users. HTC hopes that integrating blockchain's trusted digital ledger technology in the phone will bolster user's security and privacy and will in the future help with protecting a customer’s data and identity. Blockchain can record bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions and data across a distributed network with no central authority overseeing it, making it a trusted database with no need for a third party to be able to control the information.
The Exodus 1 phone will start shipping by December and HTC also said it is looking for developers to participate in the early-access version. The phone will be available in US, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, the UK, Austria, Norway, and other parts of Europe. The new HTC phone won't be available in China however, which has taken a strict approach to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.