HTC's blockchain phone Exodus will come with CryptoKitties in three months tops

HTC would like us to know that it's not kidding about that blockchain phone.

Originally announced in May without a price, date or specs, the Exodus phone sounded a bit like a desperate last effort to make HTC, which laid off 22 percent of its workforce earlier this month, relevant in the smartphone business again.

But on Tuesday, the company gave us just a tiny bit more info about the Exodus phone, including something that resembles a launch date.

According to HTC, the Exodus phone will launch in the third quarter of this year, which should mean in three months tops.

Specs are still absent, but HTC says the phone will have a "cold storage wallet," which is a bit dubious as cold storage literally means "offline," but let's wait and see what HTC thinks it means in the context of a phone.

HTC also said it has partnered with the popular crypto-collectible game Cryptokitties, which will come pre-loaded on its mobile devices, starting with the U12+. It appears that HTC is looking to make all its devices blockchain-friendly, not just the Exodus.

The goal here, according to HTC’s Chief Crypto Officer Phil Chen, is for HTC to become a "general blockchain asset marketplace." "We are here to invite all developers to distribute their blockchain game, collectible and NFT concept through us," he said in a statement.

The company said it will release further details and specs of the Exodus phone "in the coming months," which is amazingly imprecise for a phone that's scheduled to launch in said coming months. Still, HTC is the only sort-of major smartphone maker so far that aims to fully embrace the blockchain, and we're excited to see how it pans out.