On April 13, Solana (SOL -1.42%) hosted a launch occasion in San Francisco for its extremely anticipated Saga cell phone. This “crypto telephone” is the primary of its variety for a serious cryptocurrency and is a part of a broader push for making the Solana blockchain the premier residence for cell crypto experiences.

So simply how huge of an influence will this Saga telephone have on the long run worth of Solana? It actually relies on the way you view the way forward for Web3, crypto, and cell. In a best-case state of affairs, launching a bodily {hardware} product may ship Solana’s worth hovering.

The bullish case

Earlier than the Saga, no cell phone was optimized for crypto or Web3. That is mainly the issue Solana’s new Android-powered Saga telephone is attempting to unravel. The brand new Saga boasts modern expertise that present cellphones don’t possess, equivalent to a brand new Seed Vault for holding cryptographic seed phrases.

This new safety function means the Saga can turn out to be your digital {hardware} pockets for crypto and crypto belongings equivalent to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). That is one thing crypto fans have been demanding for years. In any case, in the event you take your cell phone with you in all places you go, does not it make sense you also needs to take your crypto pockets in all places?

The brand new telephone will even make it attainable to create solely new kinds of person experiences that at present are not possible with as we speak’s expertise and enterprise fashions. The Solana workforce showcased a couple of of those Web3 experiences in the course of the launch. For instance, a brand new messaging app for Solana will make it attainable to ship “good messages” (messages that embrace executable good contracts) and “NFT chat stickers” (stickers which might be truly NFTs from creators throughout the Solana neighborhood).

While you put all this collectively, cell may turn out to be a really compelling enterprise technique for Solana. As soon as you place a {hardware} telephone into customers’ arms, you’ll be able to create end-to-end buyer experiences, all enabled by a digital pockets native to the Solana blockchain.

Solana now has all of the functioning items of a cell ecosystem: the Saga telephone, a brand new decentralized app retailer for Web3 apps, a cell fee system referred to as Solana Pay, a Solana cell stack for builders to construct new experiences, and even a brand new decentralized wi-fi community for the Saga that may pay customers in crypto for working 5G hotspots.

The bearish case

The draw back, as I see it, is that the launch of this new crypto telephone sounds nice for crypto fans, tech early adopters, and younger members of Technology Z who grew up as digital natives, however what about everybody else? Let’s be blunt right here: Are most individuals going to pay $1,000 for a brand new crypto-enabled Saga telephone after they have already got a $1,000 telephone from an organization like Apple or Samsung?

Through the practically one-hour Solana launch occasion, no point out was made from pre-sale order numbers for Saga, and I feel that was for a cause. This may find yourself being a really area of interest product.

Furthermore, there may be the query of simply what number of decentralized apps (dApps) shall be obtainable within the new Solana app retailer on day 1. Through the presentation, Solana referred to this app retailer as “an expertise distribution machine,” so having loads of new apps (i.e., experiences) you merely cannot get on some other telephone as we speak shall be necessary. These new kinds of experiences may persuade folks to change telephones.

One instance given in the course of the presentation was an app that allows you to mint a brand new NFT just by taking a photograph with the telephone’s digicam. That may be attention-grabbing as a result of the method of minting new NFTs with a digicam is one thing at present past the attain of most individuals. One other instance was an app that forces you to pay in Solana tokens out of your digital pockets anytime you exceed your allotted cell phone display time for the week. (The right app for folks with children!)

Do you have to purchase Solana?

Total, I am bullish on Solana. And I have been bullish on Solana courting all the way in which again to the earliest bulletins of this new crypto telephone. To me, it makes excellent sense that the way forward for crypto is cell and that there ought to be cellphones optimized for crypto. However does the remainder of the world agree?

I am trying ahead to all of the potential synergies made attainable with the launch of the brand new Saga telephone. If it results in the blossoming of a Solana cell ecosystem, that may be large. There’s merely no different blockchain that may duplicate this proper now. Solana has come a good distance in a short while, and I am excited to see how effectively the workforce at Solana can execute on this product launch.