Crypto exchange OKX recently announced a partnership with Jambo, a Web3-enabled smartphone brand. Through this partnership, both brands seek to drive the Web3-powered digital economy in emerging smartphone-enabled markets. Although Web3 and smartphones are both recognized markets in their own right, their integration with each other is a concept that has not been explored in much depth. With this smartphone, Jambo and OKX also hope to compete with the Solana Saga smartphone.
As part of this agreement, OKX will integrate its crypto exchange and wallet applications with JamboPhone, which already includes support for Web3 functionalities. The phone is priced at $99 (roughly Rs. 8,230), according to its website.
“By embedding OKX directly into the Jambo ecosystem, we are making it easier for users in emerging markets to securely and efficiently engage with the digital economy,” said James Zhang, co-founder of Jambo, commenting on the development.
After securing Series A funding of $30 million (roughly Rs. 249 crore) in 2022, Jambo Technology, which is said to be an Africa-based technology company, launched its JamboPhone in March 2024. The phone comes with built-in features to allow users to play games. , earn and store digital assets within its ecosystem. Along with Web3 capabilities, the smartphone features a 6.5-inch LCD display, an octa-core T606 chipset, a dual rear camera setup, and runs Android 13.
The smartphone was launched in collaboration with the blockchain company, the Aptos Foundation. According to JamboPhone's official website, it is currently available in more than 120 countries where OKX is also looking to expand its business and operations.
For OKX, its venture arm called OKX Ventures is investing an undisclosed amount in Jambo and has officially made an announcement about the same on its X handle, which has over 123,000 followers.
The partnership also aims to compete with Saga, the Solana-powered smartphone that was unveiled in June 2022. The Saga phone features a built-in Seed Vault to securely store all private keys tied to the device, among other Web3 functions. It is developed by OSOM, a relatively new technology company.
3/ Right now, web3 is not made for smartphones, and you need a desktop browser to get the most out of it.
Solana Mobile Stack is a cryptographic layer built on Android to make the mobile web3 user experience seamless. https://t.co/jBhmTFGs1f
— Solana (@solana) June 23, 2022
The Saga smartphone comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution (1080×2400 pixels) and a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50-megapixel primary rear camera, rear fingerprint sensor , a ceramic back panel and titanium accents. It also runs Android 13 out of the box.
