Buying Bitcoin still remains a bit of a difficult task. This is especially true in countries where buying Bitcoin is not deemed appropriate by the government. In China, for example, this practice is heavily frowned upon. Huawei, the smartphone manufacturer, may have come up with a solution in this regard.
Huawei has a Rather bold Plan
One has to commend companies such as Huawei for trying to let consumers buy Bitcoin with relative ease despite the opposition by China’s government. At the same time, one also has to wonder if this is a smart idea, as making this process easier could land the technology company in the proverbial dog house. Only time will tell how this rather surprising decision will pan out in the coming months.
In any event, various Bitcoin wallets have been added to the Huawei AppGallery. Unlike traditional mobile app stores such as the Google Play Store and a portion of Apple’s store, the AppGallery is freely accessible throughout China. This means any application listed on this platform can be downloaded by any Chinese resident without any major problems.
Giving Huawei mobile phone users the option to download Bitcoin wallets without repercussions is a positive development for the industry as a whole. China takes its stance on Bitcoin very seriously, and it will continue to crack down on any and all related activities for as long as possible. The purchase of Bitcoin with the Chinese yuan has been barred for some time now, and it seems that won’t be changing anytime soon.
It is also the first time that a cryptocurrency-related wallet will be offered as part of the Huawei AppGallery. It also appears that the wallet in question will be preinstalled on all new Huawei and Honor phones, which will introduce a lot more people to Bitcoin. That won’t necessarily lead to more Bitcoin adoption in China, yet it sets a very interesting precedent regardless.
It will be interesting to see how the Chinese government responds to this news. After all, they were the ones responsible for blocking Android’s Google Play Store and a portion of Apple’s App Store. It is possible that AppGallery will end up in the government’s crosshairs because of this development, although no immediate action will be taken by the look of things. Owning cryptocurrency is not illegal in China, but buying it is a different matter as of right now.
With Chinese consumers flocking to mobile and digital payment solutions, introducing native Bitcoin wallet support makes a lot of sense. This news comes at an interesting time for Huawei as well. The company has made it clear they are actively exploring the concept of building a mobile phone specifically designed to run blockchain-related applications.
