Crypto Wallets Grab Vodafone’s Attention as Telco Looks to Integrate Blockchain in Operations

As part of its plans to give its business a Web3 twist, Vodafone is considering the use of public blockchain like Ethereum and Avalanche as well as private blockchains like Ripple and Hyperledger.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 6 May 2024 16:23 IST

Crypto Wallets Grab Vodafone’s Attention as Telco Looks to Integrate Blockchain in Operations

Photo Credit: Reuters

Vodafone is thinking about linking crypto wallets to encrypted SIM cards

Highlights

Vodafone is headquartered in the UK
Vodafone among the first telecom firms to speak about Web3 integration
Vodafone wishes to make its services interoperable with Web2 and Web3

The senior leadership at Vodafone is looking to integrate the blockchain technology with its operations. The concept of crypto wallets has also grabbed the attention of the UK-headquartered telecom giant in recent times. David Palmer, the lead of Blockchain initiatives at Vodafone spoke about some company plans during a recent interview with Yahoo Finance. Palmer hinted that blockchain networks, crypto wallets, smartphones, and SIM cards may all come together for a big Web3 twist to Vodafone's services around the world.

In the next six years, Palmer sees billions of smartphones into circulation. In the same duration, the number of crypto wallets is also expected to see a big jump given that the sector is already heading towards regulated adoption in several nations.

“By 2030 we are expecting over eight billion mobile phones to be in operations, many of those being smartphones that act as the touch point for people to use apps, conduct businesses. Essentially, in those mobile phones will be SIM cards. So, we've focused on linking the sim card to digital identity, linking the sim card to blockchains, and using the cryptography we have in those sim cards for that integration,” Palmer said during his interview.

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The Vodafone official has projected that by 2030, around 5.6 billion digital wallets will be operational, acting as gateways between people and financial services. They would also be used to hold digital IDs and other credentials.

“We think about linking digital wallets to the SIM cards, which has the hardware needed, so for example the hardware secure module, public-private key encryption, and a symmetric key inscription that are absolutely critical. Because the wallets expand and hold identity and financial credentials, they will be a target for hackers and others,” Palmer added.

As part of its plans to give its business a Web3 twist, Vodafone is considering the use of public blockchain like Ethereum and Avalanche as well as private blockchains like Ripple and Hyperledger. The former, however, appears more interesting to Palmer especially the Layer-2 chains supported atop popular mother chains like Ethereum itself.

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Overall, Vodafone's plans to have a pro-Web3 approach towards revamping its operations could end up making its services interoperable with Web2 as well as Web3. This could wire-in a large influx of capital in the company's treasury – giving it a strong position to arrange for a big loan of a whopping $1.8 billion for its India subsidiary – Vodafone Idea. The company reportedly seeks the loan to turn around its loss-ridden operations in India.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Vodafone, Blockchain, Crypto, Web3, Crypto Wallets

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More