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Lionel Messi – the Barcelona playmaker who is often described as the most talented football player of all time, is to approve the world's first blockchain cell phone, as reported by the British newspaper The Independent. The organization behind the project, the Swiss-Israeli startup Sirin Labs, claims to specialize in multi-level IT security through the use of blockchain technology.
The smartphone, which is labeled "Finney", is supported by a fork of Google-certified Android, which calls Sirin OS. In addition to having the underlying technology protected by blockchain technology, Finney's phone will also have a cold wallet application that allows users to securely archive their cryptocurrency. In addition, Sirin's internal app store will facilitate a range of decentralized applications (dApps). One such example is a dApp that will allow Finney users to exchange mobile data or battery in exchange for digital tokens.
The Finnish is set for an official launch date of 29 Novemberth, with an estimated price of $ 1,000.
Sirin Labs has already succeeded in smartphone space, with the launch of its "Solarin" in 2016. The device, which at the time was labeled "the safest phone in the world", had been sold for $ 16,000 . The Solarin project also had a celebrity link with A-list, with Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio who attended the first launch event in London.
Beware of celebrity endorsers
With the support of Messi – which, by the way, has just under 90 million followers on Facebook, is a good news for the cryptocurrency industry, to the extent that it further supports the goal to long term of mass awareness. However, it is also important to note that the marketing strategy of hiring a celebrity to approve a blockchain project does not necessarily guarantee success.
For example, towards the end of 2017, Floyd Mayweather, who is often referred to as the best "Pound-for-Pound" boxer of all time, approved Centra Coin's now defunct initial monetary offering. The project – which claimed to provide a gateway for users to spend cryptocurrency with a Visa or MasterCard debit card, grew close to $ 32 million before being closed by US regulatory agencies.
It remains to be seen how much money the project would have collected without Mayweather's approval, however it is highly probable that its link with ICO has created an element of artificial legitimacy.
Then there was the case of John McAfee, the controversial founder of McAfee's antivirus software. McAfee has recently admitted that it has charged about $ 100,000 to Tweet support for emerging cryptocurrency projects, subsequently motivating unsuspecting people to invest in the recommended token.
However, recognizing the somewhat muffled story of celebrity endorsed blockchain projects, the Sirin Labs team says so "If you followed Messi's career, you would know that he does not just put his name in something to make money"
Is it just a matter of time for mass adoption?
Announcements such as the Finney product further demonstrate the fact that, although the cryptocurrency markets have been somewhat bearish since the end of 2017, much is happening behind the scenes. While the value of most cryptocurrency portfolios is worth a fraction of what they were only 12 months earlier, blockchain entities are churning out new and exciting adventures in multiple sectors, indicating that the phenomenon is far from a passing fad.
However, it remains to be seen how long it will take overall adoption, especially when considering the large number of existing projects.
Sirin Labs raised more than $ 157 million during ICO in late 2017, with $ 110 million received in the first 24 hours. However, as with the overwhelming majority of cryptocurrencies, the Sirin Labs token has lost most of its value since it was released. Having reached the all-time high of just over $ 320 million at the start of the year, the token currently has a total market capitalization of $ 18 million.
