OKEx Teams to Compete with Solana Saga for Web3 Adoption with Jumbophone

OKEx crypto exchange recently announced a partnership with Web3-enabled smartphone brand Jumbo. Through this partnership, both brands are looking to pioneer the Web3-enabled digital economy in smartphone-friendly emerging markets. While Web3 and smartphones – both of which create individually recognized markets in their own right – their integration with each other is a concept that has not been explored in great depth. With this smartphone, Jumbo and OKEx are also hoping to compete with the Solana Saga smartphone.

As part of the deal, OKX will integrate its crypto exchange and wallet apps with JamboPhone, which is already equipped with support for Web3 functionalities. According to this, the price of the phone is 99 dollars (about Rs 8,230) Website,

“By embedding OKEx directly into the Jumbo ecosystem, we are making it easier for users in emerging markets to safely and efficiently engage with the digital economy.” Said Jambo co-founder James Zhang commented on the development.

After securing $30 million (about Rs 249 crore) Series A funding in 2022, Jumbo Technology, which is Allegedly An Africa-based tech firm launched its Jumbophone in March 2024. The phone comes with built-in features to let users play, earn and store digital assets within its ecosystem. Along with Web3 capabilities, the smartphone comes with a 6.5-inch LCD display, an octa-core T606 chipset, a dual rear camera setup and runs Android 13.

The smartphone was launched in partnership with blockchain firm, Aptos Foundation. According to the official website of JamboPhone, it is currently available in more than 120 countries where OKX is also now looking to expand its business and operations.

As for OKEx, its venture arm called OKEx Ventures is investing an undisclosed amount in Jumbo and officially announced this on its X handle, which has over 123,000 followers.

The partnership also aims to compete with the Solana-powered smartphone Saga, which was unveiled in June 2022. The Saga phone features an inbuilt seed vault to securely store all private keys associated with the device among other Web3 features. It has been developed by a relatively new technology firm OSOM.

The Saga smartphone comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with full-HD+ resolution (1080×2400 pixels) and 120Hz refresh rate, 50-megapixel primary rear camera, rear fingerprint sensor, ceramic back panel, and titanium accents. It also runs Android 13 out-of-the-box.