An entertainment-focused Ethereum layer-3 community named XProtocol mentioned Wednesday that it’s releasing an Android-powered smartphone optimized for gaming later this 12 months.
Dubbed XForge, the smartphone is being billed because the world’s first “DePIN cellphone,” utilizing the layer-3 community for incomes rewards and collaborating in airdrops, in accordance with a press launch.
Priced at $299, the XForge will characteristic 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, along with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, the corporate mentioned. As a layer-3 community, Xprotocol is presently constructed on high of Base, the Coinbase-launched layer-2 scaling community on Ethereum.
Nonetheless, XProtocol mentioned alongside its smartphone announcement that it’s going to ultimately migrate to its personal layer-1 community to realize “better autonomy and scalability.” Initially, Base was chosen as the primary cease for constructing XProtocol due to its must deal with many transactions without delay.
The time period DePIN, quick for decentralized bodily infrastructure networks, describes networks of bodily {hardware} underpinned by blockchains. XProtocol mentioned its community will likely be powered in the future by software program operating on XForge handsets, along with so-called Xardian Nodes.
“XProtocol is pioneering a brand new period in blockchain expertise,” mentioned Saison Capital Accomplice Qin En, in a press release. “By combining the accessibility of cell units with the ability of decentralized networks, XProtocol is setting a brand new customary.”
XProtocol’s announcement follows Solana Cellular’s foray into the crypto smartphone house with the discharge of the Saga final 12 months. The subsidiary of Solana Labs not too long ago unveiled details for its upcoming Seeker smartphone, which is striving to supply extra options and performance for much less money than its predecessor—as little as $450 for early pre-orders.
In response to Solana Cellular, the Seeker will pack 128GB of storage together with 8GB of reminiscence. The Seeker can also be being marketed as an “airdrop magnet,” benefiting from an anticipated trove of community-led rewards.
XProtocol, however, mentioned that it’s providing a “free node” to the primary 10,000 XForge purchasers. Sometimes, decentralized networks are open, letting anybody take part within the strategy of validating transactions. In response to XProtocol, the corporate has offered what’s successfully a license to take part within the community being billed as an leisure superchain.
Promoting node licenses is a mannequin popularized within the blockchain gaming world by Ethereum networks like Xai and Hychain, nevertheless it has now expanded to DePIN and cell infrastructure with XProtocol and the XForge cellphone.
XProtocol has launched a testnet for the layer-3 community. And the corporate mentioned that XProtocol’s mainnet will launch someday within the fourth quarter of this 12 months. Greater than 5,200 nodes have already been offered, with node operators incomes a share of community tokens for supporting the chain over its first 48 months of operation.
The Cayman Islands-based agency introduced that it had raised $800,000 in a strategic funding spherical in July, lifting XProtocol’s whole quantity raised to $5.2 million. Apart from Singapore-based Saison Capital, the funding spherical has seen participation from the enterprise capital corporations Dragonfly and Caballeros Capital, in addition to gaming {hardware} large Razer.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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