Author: Arjun Chand, Bankless; Translation: 0xxz@金财经
Hardware has always been difficult.
Niche tech devices struggle at every turn in the market, but Solana managed to sell their first device (we know why) and have an impressive following for their follow-up efforts number of bookings. The saga has attracted the attention of other cryptocurrency market players eager to build hardware moats and open up new markets.
In this article we’ll take a closer look at why encrypted smartphones are so important. We’ll also lift the lid off the Saga phone legend and whether the device can maintain its MEME coin-fueled success and pave the way for other entrants + a suite of mobile-friendly crypto apps.
Why are there encrypted mobile phones?
Crypto Phone is specially designed to meet the daily on-chain activities of DeFi advanced users. They are equipped with features that simplify the use of apps and crypto transactions on your phone. Additionally, they act as self-hosted wallets for user assets (tokens) and digital collectibles (such as NFTs).
Encrypted phones are not a new concept. Some projects have been tried before (such as HTC Exodus, Samsung Galaxy S10, etc.), and many failed several times.
In previous cycles, early attempts like HTC’s blockchain smartphone and Sirin Labs’ Finney phone failed to gain any meaningful traction. Samsung tried to integrate a blockchain wallet into the Galaxy S10 in 2019, but it also failed.
Looking back, the odds were always stacked against them. Blockchain infrastructure was (and still is) in the early stages of development. The building blocks for developing a high-performance encrypted phone simply don't exist. Think about it: even today, we’re still talking about a fragmented DeFi user experience and a lack of interesting apps in the ecosystem, so it’s hard to imagine what an app store on a crypto phone would have looked like 6-7 years ago.
Also, these niche devices are quite expensive even compared to other regular smartphones on the market. The Finney phone had a hefty price tag of $999, while the HTC Exodus cost around 0.15 BTC or 4.78 ETH, which was around $960 at the time.
With a limited selection of apps available and a lack of practical tools for daily cryptocurrency use, consumers are finding it difficult to explain why they would need a crypto phone in the first place, let alone an expensive one. .
As a result, encrypted phones never caught on.
But some of those factors have changed since then. The market is now showing a lot of interest in encrypted phones, as the success story of the Solana Sage phone reflects.
Perhaps they have finally cracked the code on how to carve out a niche in the ecosystem for encrypted phones? But why was the Solana Saga phone successful while other phones were not?
Solana’s Saga’s first season was successful
The Solana Saga phone was launched in the middle of the bear market, when most users didn’t want to buy encrypted phones. Early sales were slow, about 20-30 units per day, still far from the target of 20,000 units. Even after a massive 40% price cut from $1,000 to $599 in August 2023, the phone has struggled to attract buyers.
However, when the phone launched, 30 million BONK tokens were airdropped to every phone owner. This is part of the broader ecosystem-wide distribution of the BONK token airdrop, targeting users, developers, and NFT holders within its core demographic.
Saga’s fortunes took a turn in November 2023 when the value of BONK soared after the Breakpoit conference. As BONK prices continue to climb, the Solana Saga phone becomes an attractive purchase. In the end, the value of the BONK airdrop exceeded the cost of the phone itself. This led to a significant surge in demand, and on December 15, 2023, the Solana Saga phone sold out, with all 15,000 phones sold out in one day. The craze surrounding the phone has reached such a fever pitch that Solana Saga phones are being resold for as much as $5,000 on secondary markets like eBay.
The hype surrounding the Solana Saga phone has been further amplified with various projects announcing a series of additional rewards for Saga phone owners, even after the phone sold out:
Access Protocol announced that it will distribute 100,000 ACS tokens.
Saga Monkes airdropped 8,505 NFTs.
Samoyedcoin, the MEME currency on the Solana network, airdropped 1,250 SAMO tokens.
Many projects such as Solend are dedicated to airdropping tokens to Saga owners, while others such as Helium offer perks such as a one-month free trial of Helium mobile.
The BONK airdrop, and subsequent rewards offered by other projects to Saga mobile users, have been an exceptionally rewarding experience for holders.
The phone developer now aims to replicate that success with the upcoming Solana Mobile Chapter 2, which is set to ship in the first half of 2025. Chapter 2 is priced at a more affordable $450 and follows the same successful incentive strategy as Chapter 1, plus the network effects of a recommender system. A number of projects, including Solend, Helius, Chads, and Solcial, have announced airdrops, perks, and giveaways for Saga 2 owners.
It is worth noting that it achieved 100,000 pre-sales in just 30 days after its release.
Additionally, there is now a blueprint for other teams and ecosystems to follow – creating cost-effective crypto phones and leveraging network effects within the ecosystem.
Aptos recently announced a partnership with Jambo Technology to launch the JamboPhone, an affordable blockchain-integrated smartphone designed for Gen Z users in emerging markets across Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
What are the opportunities for encrypted phones?
Crypto phones are one of our best options for expanding cryptocurrency to the masses.
As Internet access expands around the world, more and more users are connecting to the Internet. People are increasingly conducting cryptocurrency and traditional financial transactions on their smartphones. By making the DeFi ecosystem accessible through affordable phones, we have a real opportunity to attract billions of dollars into the cryptocurrency space.
Additionally, encrypting native mobile phones and app stores will be a huge unlock for developers. It will give them access to thousands of DeFi power users and enable them to innovate freely without the challenges of opaque guidelines and fees associated with marketplaces like the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Moreover, in the long term, one can view encrypted phones as tools that prioritize cryptographic values such as freedom, self-preservation, and privacy. They ensure that users have control over their assets and digital rights.
This means:
Cryptophones give users full control over their assets - Cryptophones come with built-in a secure enclave; think of it as a vault within your phone. This is where the user's private keys are stored securely, isolated from other activity on the phone. This makes it difficult for anyone but you to access your assets or other data. Users have full ownership of their assets and protect their digital property rights. This also means there is no centralized authority that can block your transactions or take away your funds.
Encrypted phones protect users’ data – they use encryption to protect personal data, allowing you to send end-to-end encrypted messages on-chain. It protects your account from centralized interference and ensures your digital citizenship rights are protected.
The adoption of crypto-native phones that put the crypto spirit first is an extremely positive development for the future of crypto. There is no doubt that crypto phones have the potential to bring cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.
One day we may look back at the BONK airdrop and how the event triggered a shift in power dynamics in the tech industry. Only time will tell.
The exciting part is that in cryptocurrency, nothing is too ridiculous or too bold to consider.
Everything is possible.
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