Samsung S10 crypto wallet

[gentlemand]

https://twitter.com/mweinbachxda/status/1088102644386881537?s=21

https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s10-will-hand-cryptocurrency-massive-boost-2019-3649742

Who knows whether this is the real deal or not but there've certainly been enough rumbles about this over time.

I presume there must be some sort of secure element in there. Going on their track record of rapidly getting bored of updating their products, have they truly thought this through? This isn't just another shitty app. There might be a lot of user money on the line.

[cellard]

Interesting. If I had to bed, I would bet on it being a hoax. To me Samsung is too big to officially support crypto. It may be just a clickbait article.

If it turns out true, it's good news. Beside the point that storing bitcoin on your phone is dumb (at least any relevant amounts) and Samsung promoting altcoins will just lead to indirectly promoting scams, ultimately the net result I would say is rather positive for Bitcoin if it ends up being real. Everyone will have by default a Bitcoin wallet, at least a small % of these ones will be bright enough to learn at a deeper lever about Bitcoin, that's something positive.

[joniboini]

Interesting. If I had to bed, I would bet on it being a hoax. To me Samsung is too big to officially support crypto. It may be just a clickbait article.

Have you checked the Twitter link? It shows a snapshot of Samsung Blockchain private key management or something like that. Looks like it only support ETH at this moment. I doubt it was faked.

I don't really think it is necessary tbh, there are many wallet apps on play store which can be downloaded anytime. On top of that, I wonder will the new user really understand how to secure their pkey in a short amount of time if there's no proper guide. We don't know the source code too so it's hard to determine how secure this integrated crypto wallet from Samsung.

Anyway, I'd not risk my pkey by putting it on my phone.

[pooya87]

that picture doesn't really prove anything though! it might be another advertisement technique that Samsung is using to say their phones are powerful like the one they did last year where they took old phones back for recycling, attached them together instead and started mining bitcoin with it!



p.s. it is also pretty weird that the image is showing "bitcoin" symbol in the wallet alone but the popup message says "supported cryptocurrencies: ETH"!

[joniboini]

p.s. it is also pretty weird that the image is showing "bitcoin" symbol in the wallet alone but the popup message says "supported cryptocurrencies: ETH"!

Yeah, this is what most confusing tbh. It seems the leaks come from a tweet of somebody who gets a special first look at Samsung S10, CCN also reports the same thing[1]. Anyway, I don't buy and use Samsung, Electrum or Core is my choice!

[1] https://www.ccn.com/samsung-galaxy-s10-bitcoin-wallet-leaked-by-insider-is-it-official/

[KingZee]

I would wager it's just regular cryptocurrency wallet just like Coinbase where user don't have control over their key (even if the leaked image showed otherwise) or have fancy features such as ShapeShift to convert coin easily and built-in store/3rd party store. Cryptocurrency isn't that popular to the point where Samsung bother make hardware-parts just for Cryptocurrency.

Honestly it doesnt look like it, Samsung are way too big to use coinbase for something they can trivially implement themselves.

https://www.sammobile.com/2018/12/11/exclusive-samsung-bitcoin-app-cold-wallet-cryptocurrencies/

Apparently you'll be able to import existing wallets or create new ones recoverable with seeds, which means you obviously control the private keys.

The biggest part about this is that its not just a bitcoin wallet.. Which is HUGE imo.. Samsung has a fucking massive market share, if they market not only bitcoin, but also other altcoins to people this is definitely going to blow up.

[Lucius]

Who knows whether this is the real deal or not but there've certainly been enough rumbles about this over time. 

I do not think there's any reason for somebody to fake such news, so it is probably about something real for which Samsung has been working for a long time. Still I hope they know what they are doing, because it is about people money at the end.

Yet it would be interesting to see how will people react to the fact that one big company such as Samsung offers crypto wallet as part of the basic applications in their latest phone. It can certainly help promote BTC and some other coins, but there remains the question of safety and user support in using such app.

[gentlemand]

I would wager it's just regular cryptocurrency wallet just like Coinbase where user don't have control over their key (even if the leaked image showed otherwise) or have fancy features such as ShapeShift to convert coin easily and built-in store/3rd party store. Cryptocurrency isn't that popular to the point where Samsung bother make hardware-parts just for Cryptocurrency.

Do you really think Samsung would want to get involved in custodial stuff or money at all? They're primarily a hardware company. They supply utility for their users to go off and do their own thing.

I'm very curious to see what they've put together. If I were them I would've steered clear of this unless I was totally confident. There's a lot of liability issues.

[Cyrus]

This sort of news gives me mixed feels. I like Bitcoin and crypto being adopted by tech giants just like the next guy, but I'm afraid this will lead to propositions like "it's dangerous to be in control of your private keys, if you're not a professional securely backup your keys on Samsung Knox" (or w/e key storing solution they'll offer).

Trading security for comfort isn't something new in Bitcoinland either, web based wallet have been available since like 2011. But the underlying beauty of all this is that nobody tells you how to use it.

[KingZee]

This sort of news gives me mixed feels. I like Bitcoin and crypto being adopted by tech giants just like the next guy, but I'm afraid this will lead to propositions like "it's dangerous to be in control of your private keys, if you're not a professional securely backup your keys on Samsung Knox" (or w/e key storing solution they'll offer).

Trading security for comfort isn't something new in Bitcoinland either, web based wallet have been available since like 2011. But the underlying beauty of all this is that nobody tells you how to use it.

Is it really a bad thing though? Honestly, as long as they give the option for people to be in control of their private keys, it's a big difference compared to centralized solutions like coinbase.com. The rest just becomes marketing and word of mouth. If a user is just slightly knowledgable and do just some superficial google research, they'll be able to figure out the basics at least. Or we could just start threads here and there to let people know the danger, in case Samsung's alternative solution makes them in control of something they shouldn't have.

But to sum it up in one line, I'd honestly rather see the average Joe use bitcoin with baby-proof solutions, rather than see him discard the idea as a whole because it's too complicated. Especially because this average Joe is going to become the most likely target of easy scams in the future.

[vit05]

If you think about a business's point of view, investing in a cryptocurrency wallet would be very disruptive and would put Samsung ahead of your main competitors who are Google Wallet and Apple Pay.

Smartphones are already being commonly used as a means of payment. In China, wechat is already one of the most used means to pay for anything. a few people are using fiat daily.

Having a cryptocurrency wallet though looks like something really risky, it's actually great. It is an engineering responsibility, but not a financial one. Apple Pay needs to work with several other financial companies to function. This means lobbying governments, trade agreements, and a lot of marketing spending. But in the case of Samsung, they need to have only one app working well and the coin enthusiasts will do the rest.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Are we sure this isn't just a web wallet? Given that most of the Samsung software that comes bundled with Samsung phones requires you to create a Samsung account, I wouldn't be surprised if this app is no different. As others have said, I also don't see why they would open themselves up to the possibility of phones being lost/stolen/damaged and users losing their coins forever, and all the complaints and liability that would come with that. The word "KeyStore" to me just makes it sound like Samsung will be storing your keys and you will be able to recover your account if you lose your phone.

[elda34b]

As others have said, I also don't see why they would open themselves up to the possibility of phones being lost/stolen/damaged and users losing their coins forever, and all the complaints and liability that would come with that.

They'll use the magic word: "Disclaimer" to handle this. I think Samsung will have some short of security to protect the wallet such as pin or something like that, but we don't really know unless we can try the device.

The word "KeyStore" to me just makes it sound like Samsung will be storing your keys and you will be able to recover your account if you lose your phone.

Even if it is like that, I don't think it's a problem for some people. They'll choose simplicity over security, and the potential of Samsung abusing their power for this business is quite minuscule. Unless they wanted to be labeled as exit scam, or they somehow find a way to stole their user crypto without being detected.

If you think about a business's point of view, investing in a cryptocurrency wallet would be very disruptive and would put Samsung ahead of your main competitors who are Google Wallet and Apple Pay.

Make sense. GoJek also did the same by acquiring Coins.ph. Let's hope people who bought and use this will have enough awareness that their crypto can get stolen anytime if they're not careful enough.

[o_e_l_e_o]

the potential of Samsung abusing their power for this business is quite minuscule.

Oh, absolutely. Samsung is worth many billions more than the entire market cap of all cryptocurrencies. Risking their reputation by stealing a relatively tiny amount of crypto makes absolutely no business sense. My concern isn't with Samsung, however. Any and every web wallet has the same security risks regardless of who owns it. Unfortunately, as you say, many still choose convenience over security.

This is also speculation, of course. It hope it is something a bit more secure than a web wallet after all.

[NeuroticFish]

HTC has made a blockchain phone. Samsung had to do something on this direction. Maybe a wallet makes more sense, although I feel like this is more about commercial/buzz than actual utility.
I am not really impressed (yet).

[bitmover]

This sort of news gives me mixed feels. I like Bitcoin and crypto being adopted by tech giants just like the next guy, but I'm afraid this will lead to propositions like "it's dangerous to be in control of your private keys, if you're not a professional securely backup your keys on Samsung Knox" (or w/e key storing solution they'll offer).

Yes. However I think that this is inevitable, as there are many people who will want to use bitcoin in the future, but are not willing to control private keys and deal with those security stuff (which is not easy for older people, or users who are not interested in new technologies).

There are many people who still struggle to use whatsapp or a smartphone. If there is a simple option for those people to use bitcoin, I think it´s a valid choice.

If you think about a business's point of view, investing in a cryptocurrency wallet would be very disruptive and would put Samsung ahead of your main competitors who are Google Wallet and Apple Pay.

+1 to Samsung. South Korea is really a great place for cryptocurrency, good to see South Korean companies pushing on adoption!

[r1s2g3]

To me Samsung is too big to officially support crypto. It may be just a clickbait article.

It might be clickbait article but it is possible.

When one of the big companies of korea , Hyundai   can launch their ICO , then I forsee Samsung might be releasing the wallet.

Just wondering , if Samsung launch its own ICO/blockchain in near future.

[omer-jamal]

what is about this ?!

[joniboini]

what is about this ?!

You should ask Samsung about that. I don't know what it is but looks like a battery indicator (why double though?). It's not related to the wallet/blockchain I bet.

[bitvalak]

The innovation is actually good considering that cryptocurrency is very popular now, unlike before, people still look at cryptocurrency.
But the thing to note is the security problem, because people will always ask that question.
Has it really been tested or is still in the beta stage because if an error occurs in the security system it will be fatal to the Samsung name itself.