On May 21, 2025, Solana Mobile announced the expansion of its mobile ecosystem. At the same time, two key elements were introduced: the TEEPIN architecture and its own token SKR. This move is expected to accelerate the creation of a Web3 environment focused on smartphones.
Essentially, the company is attempting to create a decentralized infrastructure for users, developers, and manufacturers. Representatives of Solana Mobile are working to transform its 'crypto phones' from a niche product into a whole segment of the blockchain industry.
Through thorns to the stars:
The history of Web3 smartphones for the company began in 2022 with the announcement of the first model — Solana Saga. It was one of the first serious experiments with a mobile device focused on the blockchain industry. An Android-based smartphone with an integrated cryptocurrency wallet and access to decentralized applications (dApps) based on Solana.
Despite community support and a presentation at a major event in New York, the device received a rather cold reception. The high price ($999), limited functionality, and lack of mass interest led to weak sales in the early days after the launch in April 2023.
However, the manufacturer did not give up and continued to promote the device, betting on lowering the price and smartphone-linked airdrops. In August 2023, the company reduced the device's price to $599, and by December, 30 million BONK were distributed to Saga owners.
Amid rising token prices, the mobile phone from Solana Mobile has turned into a profitable asset. It began to be quickly bought up due to the BONK rally, and on the secondary market, the device's price sometimes exceeded $5000.
As a result, the entire batch of 20,000 units was sold out in a short period. This situation seemingly showed Solana Mobile that in the Web3 smartphone market, technology alone is not enough; properly structured incentives are also crucial.
Thanks to the success of the first model, the company began developing the second generation of the device — Seeker. It was introduced in September 2024. In doing so, the company analyzed the experiences of Saga users, lowered the entry threshold, emphasized economic incentives, and began to ramp up pre-orders.
By February 2024, users had ordered more than 100,000 devices. The company acknowledged that this turn of events exceeded all expectations and confirmed the demand for Web smartphones.
Call it Seeker!
The new device from Solana Mobile will be positioned as a sort of 'benchmark cryptocurrency smartphone' and will receive several enhancements compared to its predecessor. Its features include:
hardware storage Seed Vault;
Seeker ID identifier;
integrated cryptocurrency wallet Seed Vault Wallet;
a new Genesis token designed for early users.
Additionally, developers significantly revamped the Solana dApp Store. According to the company, it now supports over 100 applications and offers enhanced security and convenience when working with on-chain services. The main focus is on creating a familiar user experience where interaction with Web3 does not require technical expertise.
Along with other improvements, Solana Mobile added biometric authentication to the device, single sign-on with one-touch signing, and the ability to quickly restore access to Seed Vault.
Moreover, according to co-founder of Solana Anatoly Yakovenko, their smartphones are intended to impose competition on giants like Apple and Google. He emphasized that these are exactly the goals set by the subsidiary phone manufacturing company.
In summary, Solana Mobile is working to make Seeker not just a device for storing assets and receiving airdrops. According to the company's vision, it should become a kind of gateway to the decentralized internet. To achieve this, developers intend to offer users special tools, which we will discuss a bit later.
Seeker deliveries will start on August 4, 2025, as confirmed by the manufacturer on May 21. As part of the early access campaign, users could place pre-orders to buy the smartphone for $450–$500. Considering the applications for 150,000 units, potential revenue has already exceeded $67.5 million — and this is without accounting for future sales.
Such demand, according to developers, confirms that interest in Web3 gadgets is stable. Especially if the device offers not just cryptocurrency wallet functions and access to airdrops, but a full entry point into the multi-layered environment of Solana Mobile.
Mobile decentralization:
With the finish line in smartphone development approaching, Solana Mobile is moving to the next stage of implementing its plans. This involves creating a decentralized ecosystem where everything revolves around the SKR token and TEEPIN architecture. These two key components were introduced by the company on May 21.
SKR is not just a 'bonus' for loyal users, but the foundation of a new economy, according to developers. It will be distributed among:
builders — for creating applications;
users — for activity and interaction;
manufacturers and partners integrating into the ecosystem.
Such a model allows all parties to be united in a single economic cycle, the company emphasized.
"This transforms the traditional mobile business model, providing stakeholders with actual ownership of the platform. Instead of being passive consumers in someone else's walled garden, users, developers, and hardware manufacturers become active managers of a digital infrastructure owned by the community," said Solana Mobile CEO Emmett Hollier.
It is still unknown whether SKR will appear on centralized exchanges and how it will be distributed among potential owners. Some users are concerned about speculation around the new asset and pressure on the Solana (SOL) cryptocurrency. However, developers noted that SKR is meant to fulfill an important internal function, ensuring the circulation of value within the ecosystem and managing various processes.
The infrastructural basis for all this will be TEEPIN — a three-tier architecture that will ensure the smooth functioning of the ecosystem:
a trusted execution environment (TEE) provides cryptographic attestation of the device's state, protecting user data and keys from interference;
the platform level is responsible for user and application verification, eliminating the need for centralized intermediaries and stores;
Guardian Network — a decentralized trust network of validators, communities, and organizations that support the integrity of the entire infrastructure.
Unlike traditional models where the platform is fully controlled by a corporation, TEEPIN offers an open system. Trust in it is built not through hierarchy, but through cryptographic verification.
"The goal of Seeker is to build a top-tier mobile ecosystem that can compete with Google and Apple. Cryptocurrency is the wedge for this. TEEPIN is the implementation. The probability of failure is almost guaranteed, the opportunity is colossal," said Yakovenko.
According to co-founder $SOL Solana, TEEPIN is not just an architecture, but a sort of foundation for interaction between users, developers, and manufacturers. In this case, SKR acts as the 'fuel' that will make this mechanism work.
The solutions presented by Solana Mobile are not just additions to another smartphone, but a transition from a Web3 device to a full-fledged platform with its own rules, assets, and architecture. The emphasis on decentralization and community control reflects the basic principles of the industry.
We will have to wait until August 2025 to understand how all this will work as a whole, and how well the company will meet users' expectations.
