Xiaomi and Sei cross-industry collaboration: New phones come pre-installed with blockchain wallets, allowing users to access cryptocurrencies with one click?

At the intersection of technology and finance, a groundbreaking announcement that could reshape the digital lives of hundreds of millions has shaken the cryptocurrency and consumer electronics industries. High-performance public chain Sei Network announced a milestone strategic partnership with global smartphone giant Xiaomi. The core of this collaboration is that starting from 2026, new Xiaomi smartphones sold in markets worldwide (excluding Mainland China and the US) will come pre-installed with a Web3 application powered by Sei.

This is not just adding an app to a phone; it represents the most ambitious step the crypto world has taken toward mainstream users to date. Will this cross-industry alliance truly pave the way for a “one-click direct access” to cryptocurrencies for users globally and ignite a wave of large-scale application adoption?

Ecological Integration

According to an announcement released by both parties on December 10, 2025, this partnership covers Xiaomi’s main smartphone brands, including Xiaomi (Mi), Redmi, and POCO. This means that in regions such as Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa—where Xiaomi holds significant market share—consumers will see this built-in crypto app on their newly purchased devices upon startup.

Xiaomi’s influence in the global market is the most compelling foundation for this collaboration. Official data shows that Xiaomi shipped 168 million smartphones worldwide in 2024, with an approximate market share of 13%, ranking among the top three globally. In regions like Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, Xiaomi ranks in the top two, and in countries such as Greece (36.9%) and India (24.2%), it holds a dominant position. Pre-installing Sei’s application as a default configuration will undoubtedly bring the gateway to cryptocurrency directly in front of hundreds of millions of potential users—scaling far beyond the user base of any current single cryptocurrency exchange or wallet.

More deeply, this is a “hardware-level distribution strategy.” It completely bypasses the traditional app store download barriers, eliminating the cumbersome process of users searching, evaluating, downloading, and installing. Cryptocurrency transitions from an “optional item” that requires active seeking by users to a “pre-installed feature” that is ready to use immediately upon startup. History in digital services development has shown that this mode of deployment is a key catalyst for exponential user growth.

To truly lower the barriers for ordinary consumers, this pre-installed app has been designed with a “user-friendly” philosophy at every level.

First, it employs advanced MPC (multi-party computation) wallet technology. The biggest advantage of this technology is the “mnemonic-less” approach, freeing users from the need to write down and safeguard complex and hard-to-remember 12 or 24-word phrases like traditional crypto wallets. Instead, users can log in instantly using familiar Google or Xiaomi accounts, creating a fully functional on-chain wallet. This “seamless” onboarding experience greatly alleviates new users’ fears regarding security and complexity.

Second, the app is not just a wallet but also an exploration portal for Web3. It will feature an embedded discovery center for decentralized applications (dApps), curated and recommended across various popular sectors including DeFi (decentralized finance), GameFi (blockchain gaming), social, and NFTs. Users will be able to interact directly with a rich Web3 ecosystem on their phones without the need to browse browsers or third-party platforms.

Additionally, the app will support P2P real-time transfers, and in the future, highly imaginative C2B (consumer-to-business) payment features. All transactions will be naturally executed on the Sei blockchain, enjoying its promise of sub-400ms transaction finality and extremely low Gas fees, ensuring a smooth and low-cost user experience.

Grand Vision

If pre-installed wallets are the first step, then connecting real-world commerce payments is the ultimate goal of this partnership. Sei and Xiaomi have launched development plans for a stablecoin payment system, aiming to be live by Q2 2026 in markets with clear regulatory frameworks such as Hong Kong and the EU.

This means that in the future, users could use native stablecoins like USDC on the Sei chain to directly purchase all products—from smartphones, wearables, smart home appliances to Xiaomi’s SU7 electric vehicle—at over 20,000 retail stores or official websites worldwide. This will bring unprecedented real-world utility to cryptocurrencies, expanding their role from speculative trading to everyday consumption. Such deep integration with the physical economy will generate sustained and genuine on-chain transaction volume, injecting strong momentum into Sei Network’s economic model.

Upon this news, the market responded positively. The SEI token price surged in response, defying a generally sideways or declining market environment for mainstream cryptocurrencies, once again testing the key resistance around $0.14.

More importantly, market analysts generally view this partnership as a “structural bullish signal” for SEI. Its positive logic is not based on short-term speculation but on long-term value capture mechanisms. With millions of new users entering and potential commercial payment scenarios materializing, transaction activity on Sei chain is expected to increase significantly. Every transaction consumes SEI as Gas, creating a rigid demand for the token. Meanwhile, increased network activity will incentivize more users to stake, further reducing circulating supply and providing long-term support for the token’s value.

Trading data also reflects the market’s excitement. Within 24 hours of the announcement, SEI’s spot trading volume skyrocketed over 260%, with derivatives market volume and open interest also rising sharply. This indicates traders are actively establishing new positions, and the market holds strong expectations for its future trajectory.

To ensure this partnership bears fruit, Sei Labs has also launched a $5 million “Global Mobile Innovation Program,” dedicated to funding and incentivizing developers to create native blockchain applications within Xiaomi’s extensive mobile ecosystem.

Sei’s co-founder Jeff Feng described this collaboration as a “watershed moment,” stating: “We are not just solving onboarding issues; we are reimagining how hundreds of millions of users interact with digital assets in their daily lives.”

Conclusion

Xiaomi’s partnership with Sei is undoubtedly a bold and highly promising attempt to mainstream Web3. It cleverly combines Xiaomi’s vast user base from top-tier consumer electronics with the underlying technology of high-performance blockchain, aiming to break down long-standing barriers to cryptocurrency adoption.

While the true results depend on the new phones’ launch and payment features in 2026, and on user engagement and ecosystem development, this collaboration has already painted a clear blueprint for the industry: future cryptocurrencies may no longer belong solely to tech enthusiasts but will become a fundamental infrastructure that seamlessly integrates into everyone’s digital lives—similar to mobile payments. A revolution started by smartphones is quietly unfolding.