Electroneum just launched a GSMA-approved, low-cost phone that mines cryptocurrencies at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The $80 dollar phone, Electroneum M1 is expected to popular for its cloud mining feature that allows users to mine cryptocurrencies on the go. Electroneum M1 is Google Mobile Services (GMS)-certified smartphone that comes with a cloud mining technology integration enabling users to earn cryptocurrency through an app.

The M1 will only support mining of Electroneum’s native token “ETN” out of the box with offline mining capabilities according to the UK-based company.

Electroneum’s token promises “up to $3″ in monthly returns. ETN tokens allow users to pay for services such as mobile top-ups, online services, and shopping. At the time writing, ETN costs $0.006945 US Dollars per coin according to data from coinmarketcap.

Consumers who purchase the Electroneum M1 will receive a phone running Android 8.1 Go Edition with 4GB storage (expandable up to 32GB), 4G dual sim capability powered by a Quad Core 1.3 GHz processor.

The budget-friendly is targeted at developing countries and emerging markets where the utility of the ETN token is mostly needed. In an interview with Decrypt Electroneum’s founder and CEO, Richard Ells expressed how this new development allows people to access mining easily since mobile phones are widely used.

The smartphone is ubiquitous now, so I thought: if this worked on smartphone, we could have something that would change the world; everyone could suddenly access this thing,

Richard Ells

The M1 will launch first in the South African market where it will be sold through local vendors. To make the launch in South Africa a success, Electroneum has partnered with The Unlimited. The Financial Services Provider (FSP) has a modest 200,000 of South Africa’s 37.5 million mobile subscribers, but the startup asserts that the mobile operator is growing fast.

Electroneum’s M1 entry into the blockchain phone market provides a unique opportunity for experts to test the demand for budget phones with blockchain capabilities in emerging markets.