HTC has released its first “Viverse” phone, which is compatible with the company’s metaverse platform and includes crypto and NFT capability.

The HTC Desire 22 Pro comprises applications that allow you to view and control your metaverse content from the phone, including crypto and NFTs. According to an announcement, a “Viverse” program will enable you to acquire NFTs in a digital marketplace and “build your own virtual area.”

The Desire 22 Pro, like other HTC “crypto phones,” includes a built-in crypto wallet for Ethereum and Polygon-based assets.

There are several facets to the phone’s metaverse functioning. To begin, it’s intended to be the “ideal companion” to HTC’s recently announced Vive Flow VR headset, with HDCP 2.2 connectivity allowing you to wirelessly mirror content to the VR headset and a Vive Manager app enabling you to set up and manage your VR hardware, which is used to access Viverse, HTC’s take on the metaverse.

The headgear is supposed to operate with any Android phone, so what the Desire 22 Pro provides is unclear what others don’t.

There’s also some NFT capability here, with HTC’s Taiwanese website claiming that the phone features a digital wallet for managing crypto assets and a free NFT. However, this appears to differ by the market since comparable terminology is not seen in its marketing materials on its UK website.

According to Shen Ye, Global Head of Product at HTC, the smartphone “opens new experiences as the partner for VIVE Flow—whether it’s meeting coworkers in VR, or enjoying your own private theatre wherever you are.”

The strategy is similar to HTC’s earlier blockchain-powered smartphone, the Exodus 1, which debuted in 2018 and was followed by the cheaper Exodus 1S the following year.

However, neither phone appears to have turned around HTC’s smartphone fortunes. According to reports, the company’s market share fell to less than half a percent in 2018, the same year it sold much of its smartphone talent to Google. Moreover, HTC now sells so few handsets that it does not appear on public smartphone market share tracking.