Cryptocurrency development updates: HTC Exodus, Monarch Wallet, and 0x Instant Buy

At the time of writing, the markets are still in the red, and I’m a keen believer we haven’t seen the real bottom just yet.

Nevertheless, I would like to share some recent news that piqued my interest, as it shows alternative crypto projects haven’t died (as so many are saying). On the contrary, brilliant developments and products are still being released.

(Please bear in mind this article is not financial advisement and you should always do you own due diligence before investing in any crypto.)

First things first

Although I’m constantly saying we haven’t reached bottom, it doesn’t mean I’m personally not buying into my favourite cryptos. My current strategy is simple: to look for projects with actual real use cases (like Bitcoin) and then see what they’ve been able to develop over the last 1-2 years.

HTC Exodus

The first version of HTC Exodus, a Taiwanese smartphone, is being released sometime in Q1 next year. What makes it unique is the cryptocurrency and blockchain features built into the phone. Each HTC Exodus is a node on HTC’s blockchain network. It also has a variety of options that allow users to securely store and trade cryptocurrencies. The phone will support BTC, LTC, ETH, and the ERC-721 Ethereum tokens (not ERC-20 tokens, which are used to create most ICOs).

Speaking of mobile phones, Cointext is a special cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to send Bitcoin Cash (BCH) through SMS. The Bitcoin Cash wallet service was just launched in Ukraine and Italy. The advantage of this wallet is that it works on any smartphone and on basic feature phones. The wallet offers the possibility to send Bitcoin Cash without an internet connection, through the use of mesh networks.

Monarch Wallet

During 2018, the Monarch Blockchain Corporation released the Monarch Wallet, which gives users access to over 1,500 cryptocurrencies while taking no fees.

By the end of December 2018, the Monarch Wallet will debut fiat pairings in the app, allowing wallet users to directly buy and sell cryptocurrencies using a debit card or bank account. This is a major advantage because very few wallets give users both control of their private keys and allow them to directly buy or sell cryptocurrencies.

Also, Monarch is debuting MonarchPay, a payment solution that makes it easy to pay for goods and services using cryptocurrency. Users can pay in crypto while businesses get paid in fiat, protecting merchants from the volatility that cryptocurrencies currently present.

0x Instant Buy

Another project making quite interesting ripples across the cryptosphere is, without a doubt, 0x, the decentralized exchange protocol.

If you remember, 0x recently got listed at Coinbase, which honestly didn’t do much for its price. Now, just a few weeks later, the core development team made a quite interesting announcement, introducing 0x Instant, a UI for developers.

With just a few lines of code, you can now add crypto purchasing seamlessly to any app or website. Instant is open source, fully configurable, and allows hosts to earn affiliate fees on every transaction. Under the hood, Instant aggregates liquidity from 0x relayers for any ERC-20 or ERC-721 asset. It automatically finds the best prices within the 0x networked liquidity pool and lets users pay for tokens with ETH via MetaMask, Ledger, Trezor, or any other Ethereum wallet.

Users will enjoy a user-friendly experience when buying tokens, without the hassle of going to multiple places to purchase tokens.

If this isn’t great news, I really don’t know what is!