Samsung Electronics has chosen blockchain technology as one of its future growth engines. The tech giant has officially launched the Blockchain Development Group by putting together researchers who have been working on blockchain development at various departments of its wireless business division.
The first major project of the Blockchain Development Group involved the 5G mobile phone “Galaxy A Quantum,” which has recently been released in cooperation with SK Telecom, and the “Galaxy S20.” In particular, the company said a blockchain key played an essential part in strengthening the security of the Galaxy S20.
Samsung Electronics has loaded “Samsung Blockchain Keystore” and “Samsung Blockchain Wallet” on its strategic Smartphone Galaxy series. Samsung Blockchain Keystore is a space where private keys for using DApps are safely stored. Samsung Blockchain Wallet supports remittances and payments of virtual assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) through biometric recognition such as fingerprints.
The company is expected to apply blockchain technologies based on Samsung Blockchain Keystore and Samsung Blockchain Wallet to key applications for Galaxy smartphones such as Samsung Pay and Samsung Health. Examples include blockchain-based overseas remittances and mobile healthcare.
In addition, the company has expanded the scope of support for Software Development Kit (SDK) for Samsung Blockchain Keystore not only to Bitcoin and Ethereum but also to Klaytn, a blockchain platform developed by Kakao Ground X, in an attempt to expand Galaxy smartphone-based blockchain services. The company is highly likely to take the lead in developing mobile electronic certification (decentralized identification or DID), which is needed for blockchain-based finance and games, through Galaxy smartphones. Previously, Samsung Electronics received temporary permission for a mobile driver’s license verification service based on its own authentication service called “Samsung Pass.”