South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics is reportedly looking to add cryptocurrencies to its Samsung Pay application, as the company reshuffled employees to join its blockchain task force with the team behind Samsung Pay.
According to a report published by Business Korea, Samsung’s blockchain task force was behind the “Samsung Blockchain KeyStore” and the “Samsung Blockchain Wallet” that were added onto the tech giant’s flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S10.
Per the local news outlet, Samsung merged its blockchain task force with its division that develops and operates core services like Samsung Pay. The task force, under the supervision of the firm’s service business divisions’ vice-president Kim Yong-jae, could see Samsung Pay add cryptocurrencies.
Business Korea’s report reads:
The reshuffle was carried out when the company announced plans to expand its blockchain and cryptocurrency services.
Some have speculated the tech giant is set to use blockchain technology to improve Samsung Pay, which is currently using a technology called magnetic secure transmission (MST) to allow users to transact at conventional points of sale by merely hovering their phones over them, without the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies can reportedly help Samsung Pay improve its service, as it’ll allow users to reduce costs associated with intermediaries, by allowing for peer-to-peer transaction to take place.
Currently, it’s believed Samsung’s cryptocurrency wallet integrated on the S10 smartphone supports Ethereum’s ether and ERC-20 tokens, although support for more tokens is set to come in the future.
The tech giant has been increasingly betting on cryptos and blockchain technology. Earlier this month it was revealed Samsung was set to add its crypto wallet to budget Galaxy smartphones, and in April it invested $2.9 million in crypto hardware wallet startup Ledger.
Some have suggested Samsung is looking to launch its own blockchain and its own token, based on the Ethereum protocol. It isn’t clear whether the tech giant is moving forward with the move.
