Vitalik Buterin has likely provided financial support to ethOS, a project promoted as the world’s first Ethereum mobile operating system.

According to Arkham data, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin sent 199.9 ETH, valued at over $517,000, to a Gnosis Safe multi-signature contract. The leading speculation is that Buterin’s transfer was a donation to the Ethereum phone project called ethOS.

Built by pseudonymous developers at Freedom Factory, this open-source initiative was initially launched on select Android devices in late 2022 and redeployed the following year.

ethOS is an Ethereum-native mobile operating system that allows users to write blockchain code and deploy ETH-based decentralized applications. The team, formed in 2021, plans to release additional hardware offerings this year or next, according to the official ethOS website.

Is ethOS Ethereum’s answer to Solana Saga?

Fifteen years after the debut of Bitcoin (BTC), the blockchain industry is focused on achieving mass adoption by providing easy access to Web3 and real-world utility.

Integrating blockchain standards with mobile devices like smartphones has often been a challenge, but developments in recent years suggest progress.

In June 2022, Solana Labs, the entity behind Solana (SOL), introduced the Saga mobile device. The hardware was built atop Android’s OS and pre-loaded with Solana dapps like Phantom Wallet.

Slow sales initially cast doubt on Saga’s success, and Solana took nearly a year to sell 20,000 units. However, Saga 2.0 improved this track record, selling 100,000 units in pre-orders within a month.

At press time, Saga appeared to be ahead of ethOS, although the two projects have adopted different approaches to merging blockchain and mobile technology. The Ethereum and Solana blockchains have seen significant growth in the past year. If both ethOS and Saga continue to develop, they may eventually become full-fledged competitors in the blockchain mobile market.