Bitmain Technologies is the leading developer and retailer of bitcoin mining chips (ASICs). They are the creators of the most power-efficient miner, the Antminer S9, and run the currently largest bitcoin mining pool, Antpool. Huawei also doesn’t need any introductions since it is China’s third largest smartphone producer and a brand that has worldwide recognition as one of the top performing smartphone companies.
They merged their business interests due to the political restrictions about cryptocurrencies in China where the government collaborates with regional telecommunication providers to prohibit the use of the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. Android and iOS smartphone users thus are currently not able to download some cryptocurrency related apps.
On a side note, the Chinese government also suppressed digital coin mining, by restricting people’s access and trading capabilities for their Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets. Previous to this, they had outlawed Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) altogether. However, it’s not yet forbidden to own cryptocurrencies.
Bitmain & Huawei joined forces to demonstrate bold resistance to China’s harmful cryptocurrency policies and bans, causing Bitcoin to step up in the ecosystem and they caught the public’s eye when they announced their collaboration. The Bitmain-owned BTC.com made an introduction of their own Bitcoin wallet app in Huawei’s app store called “AppGallery” as the first of its kind on China’s market. Customers who buy a new Huawei or Honor smartphone from the P20 model and upwards will have the BTC.com wallet app already pre-installed on their device, while older models will start being updated with the new feature later in the same quarter.
The BTC.com wallet has been a top-rated app among bitcoin owners which is evident from having billions of USD worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash transactions since its launch in 2015. Now it is available to millions of Huawei (and Honor) clients to gain a first-hand experience and have direct access to a Bitcoin wallet on their smartphones fresh from the store. This move from Huawei most notably impacts the Chinese market, due to restrictions not existing in other markets. BTC.com’s vice president of Business operations Alejandro de la Torre explained, that “BTC.com is democratizing Bitcoin by breaking down barriers to entry and ensuring new users can access Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in a simple, secure and trusted environment.”
Additionally, in March Huawei announced another ambitious project, developing a smartphone that is going to support decentralized applications (DApp) operating as Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform oriented to develop smart contract services for companies and enterprises. There’s also the Hyperledger blockchain consortium led by the Linux Foundation, of which Huawei has been a member since 2016. Huawei’s vice president of mobile services, Jaime Gonzalo, explained that the company expects expansion in cryptocurrency “adoption habits” worldwide. The Chinese Government considers an implementation of blockchain standards by the end of 2019, which would represent a compromise between the Government and technological progress.