The first smartphone dedicated to blockchain tech and storing crypto that I heard of is HTC, from what I remember, and I even wrote a post about it about two years ago, if my memory is still working properly. In 2019 Samsung came with the announcement that their S10 will support BTC, ETH and ERC-20 tokens, but I haven't seen yet any S10 yet in my country that has such features.
Huawei, China's smartphone manufacturer leader, although not in good relationships with the US and especially Google, has just launched its Mate 40, and no... it won't offer its buyers any support for cryptocurrencies, but it puts in the hands of its Chinese buyers a hardware wallet for the digital yuan, China’s Digital Currency.
For more info on the news have a cake from this pie: https://cryptopotato.com/huaweis-new-phone-mate40-will-have-a-wallet-for-chinas-digital-currency/
Yes, the new flagship from Huawei which no longer uses google's services makes possible storing the digital yuan on its hardware wallet for its new buyers. No crypto though, no BTC, no ETH, no nothing... just the communist country's digital national currency.
With this move Huawei is not actually paving any road towards world wide mass adoption for cryptocurrencies, instead it brings closer to fulfillment China's master plan for a totalitarian state with the government in full control of its citizens.
Carrying the digital yuan in your wallet, the smartphone supported one of course, will make purchases for the Chinese probably easier, safer and more at hand everywhere around the country, but it will give the communist country's government more control over the people's finances and ultimately on their personal lives.
Now some might say: well Adrian... you're a conspirator as usual and refuse to see the digital progress that the world is making, coming always with your Orwelian conspiracy theories for any damn news in this regard... Hell yeah, because I see clear the direction towards what these smartphones, tech novelties, and CBDCs are taking us and it's not that financial freedom, sovereignty and privacy that we were expecting from crypto.
Yes, I am an advocate for crypto, blockchain tech, privacy and transaction speed that some cryptos offer, and also for the opportunity for financial freedom that this space makes available to almost anyone on this planet. I don't see of bon augur though these government and banks issued CBDCs, digital yuans, smartphones supporting them, and so on.
The least mentioned ones are just tightening the chain around our privacy's and financial freedom's neck. Digital currencies, CBDCs, and similar forms of money have nothing to do with crypto in my opinion and I'm totally against the. They're just centralized currencies created for that one central power and not its users. BTC, ETH, XMR, HIVE, DOGE, etc etc are not to be boiled in the same water with those other ones.
Hence, no I'm not bullish about Mate 40 and its hardware wallet even if it would be available in Romania and support some damn native digital currency of ours and I still believe in the sovereignty and true financial freedom that true cryptos provide.
Thanks for attention,
Adrian