Sei Labs, the core development group behind the Sei blockchain, has reached a distribution deal with Xiaomi to pre-install a new crypto wallet and discovery app on all Xiaomi smartphones sold outside mainland China and the United States.
According to Thursday’s announcement, the app will let users sign in with their existing Google or Xiaomi IDs and will feature a multiparty computation wallet for security, access to popular crypto applications, and support for both peer-to-peer and merchant payments.
The rollout will start in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. Sei Labs is also creating a $5 million program aimed at funding mobile projects that bring blockchain features to consumer devices.
The companies plan to add stablecoin payments across Xiaomi’s retail and online channels, allowing customers to purchase devices, including phones and electric vehicles, using assets like USDC (USDC), which is supported by Sei. Early launches are targeted for Hong Kong and the EU by mid-2026, with broader expansion to follow.
Sei, launched in 2023, is a high-speed layer-1 blockchain built for low-cost transactions. Xiaomi is a global electronics company that makes smartphones, smart-home devices, IoT hardware and electric vehicles. It was founded in 2010 and is based in Beijing.
Related: Chinese tech giants halt Hong Kong stablecoin plans amid Beijing concerns: FT
Solana’s push into smartphones
Sei Labs isn’t the first Web3 project to target smartphones as a gateway for mainstream crypto adoption.
The Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs, announced its first smartphone, the Saga, in June 2022 before beginning shipments the following year. In late 2023, sales surged when a BONK airdrop tied to each device briefly made the phone worth more in tokens than its retail price.
In August 2024, Solana began shipping its second-generation Seeker phone to users in over 50 countries after receiving more than 150,000 preorders. The device includes broad hardware upgrades, a built-in crypto wallet, a decentralized app store and an updated seed-vault system.
On Dec. 3, Solana Mobile announced its plans to launch a native token, SKR, tied to its Seeker phone and broader mobile ecosystem in early 2026. The 10 billion-token supply will include large allocations for airdrops, growth incentives, liquidity and a community treasury, with portions also set aside for Solana Mobile and Solana Labs.
Samsung has also been expanding crypto features on its phones through a recent partnership with Coinbase. In October, the companies began allowing roughly 75 million US Galaxy users to buy crypto directly in Samsung Wallet, with plans to extend the integration to other markets.
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