CryptoKitties To Launch New Mobile App

CryptoKitties, most likely the best-known decentralized application (dApp) on the Ethereum network, will introduce its first mobile app following a partnership with Taiwan-based smartphone manufacturer HTC.

Confirmed on Tuesday, the partnership will see CryptoKitties launched on impending HTC devices soon, starting with the U12+, the company’s dominant phone.

The CryptoKitties dApp, which enables users to develop, breed and sell unique digital cats, became so trendy last December that it independently blocked the Ethereum network and forced at least one startup to suspend its initial coin offering (ICO).

Yet, despite netting developer Axiom Zen $12 million in Series A funding, the game has seen slow user interest in recent months compared to the backdrop of the cryptocurrency bear market.  For now, the app has less than 350 daily active users, though it remains to be the most widely-used dApp-based game.

Per HTC website, the CryptoKitties app will at first be available to U.S. users, but it is still uncertain if it will be introduced in other markets.

The partnership with CryptoKitties happens as HTC is planning to launch the Exodus, which the company is advertising as the “world’s first native blockchain phone,” during the third quarter.

“We understand the potential of digital scarcity and uniqueness. With Exodus, HTC aims to be a general blockchain asset marketplace. We are here to invite all developers to distribute their blockchain game, collectible and NFT concept through us. We believe there is a paradigm shift and the pendulum is swinging back to ownership and the value of content.” said Phil Chen, HTC’s “chief crypto officer.”

For HTC, the entry into the promising cryptocurrency space could be regarded as a final effort to restore the company’s existing status as a major player in the mobile device manufacturing market.