Sirin Labs Launches ‘World’s First’ Blockchain Smartphone Finney

Sirin Labs, the Israeli-founded blockchain company based in Switzerland that is perhaps best known for developing a $17,000 secure smartphone for high-end clients — and signing Leo Messi as a brand ambassador — has officially launched its new blockchain smartphone, which it called the Finney, “the world’s first premier, ultra-secure” device. It comes with an embedded cold storage crypto wallet, runs on the SIRIN OS, an operating system developed in-house, and is priced at $999.

Earlier this year, Sirin Labs chose electric giant FIH Mobile (Foxconn International Holding) to lead the manufacturing of Finney. The company also announced it will open two flagship concept stores, in London later this month, and in Tokyo next month. The London store will function as a “blockchain academy,” Sirin Labs said in a statement.

Last year, Sirin Labs raised over $157 million in an initial coin offering to develop the Finney.

Sirin Labs is headquartered in Switzerland, with offices in London and an R&D center in Tel Aviv. It was founded in 2013 by Israelis Tal Cohen and Moshe Hogeg, known for founding the VC firm Singulariteam and startups Yo and Mobli, which nabbed celebrity investors. Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, also a co-founder, serves as company chairman.

“It is with great pleasure that we’re today unveiling to the world the first blockchain smartphone, brought to you by one ambitious startup that was able to bring an idea to mass production in less than a year,” Hogeg said in a statement. “We’re taking a huge step forward in bridging the gap between the blockchain economy and the consumer market. Finney is the mobile and truly secure experience crypto holders have been longing for.”

“In an increasingly insecure digital world, where hackers in all corners of the globe are out to steal whatever they can, consumers need a product that gives them confidence their data is safe,” explained Rakishev. “With no solution available until now, many crypto users took a step back to a more primitive time and were using pen and paper to record their private key code. This and other ‘cold storage’ solutions are impenetrable to hacks but are also totally impractical for modern living. Finney is unique and is the only phone with an embedded cold storage wallet. There is nothing else like it on the market.”