Crypto mainstream adoption has always faced a major hurdle: making digital assets easy and safe for everyday users. That’s where big tech comes in. When major companies step in to streamline crypto access, the entire ecosystem gets a boost.
Samsung’s recent partnership with Coinbase is a perfect example. The collaboration enables users to get their Coinbase credentials saved in a secure hardware-based “Samsung Knox” vault, which will take crypto a step closer to the typical smartphone user. It is not only about convenience but also about trust, accessibility and scale.
This may be the breaking point for crypto mainstream adoption for many. When tech giants such as Samsung begin turning crypto into a default, it may start picking up among early adopters and enthusiasts and start sweeping over the mainstream earlier than anticipated.
Details of the Samsung and Coinbase Partnership
Samsung’s crypto integration with Coinbase brings seamless crypto access directly into its Wallet app, merging hardware security with easy mobile payments.
Built-in Wallet Access & Coinbase App Integration
In July 2025, the Samsung Pay app will enable users in the US and Canada to add money to their Coinbase wallets using Samsung Pay without leaving their current app or manually entering payment information, and vice versa. The feature is being phased in for the consumers and will soon be extended to wider markets.
The integration indicates the continued efforts of Samsung to provide innovative mobile experiences and the activities of Coinbase to offer fast, easy, and compliant crypto services to communities across the globe.
Supported Devices & Global Reach
The partnership taps into Samsung’s vast user base, including most Galaxy S10 through S24 models, Note, Fold, Z-Flip, and select A-series phones. You can also use the Samsung Blockchain Wallet on other Samsung Galaxy phones, but if your device doesn’t come with Samsung Blockchain Keystore, some features might not work.
Samsung crypto wallet, an integration of Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass, is available in markets across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, leveraging device-level Knox Vault security.
Why This Partnership Makes Strategic Sense
For Coinbase, partnering with Samsung opens the door to more than 100 million active Samsung crypto wallet users, giving a big boost to mainstream crypto adoption. For Samsung, the collaboration strengthens its crypto wallet as a one-stop hub for digital finance, merging everyday security with easy access to digital assets.
What Samsung and Coinbase Partnership Means for Everyday Users
With Samsung and Coinbase teaming up, getting into crypto or using it becomes a whole lot simpler for regular people who wouldn’t otherwise consider it.
1. Easier Onboarding & Access to Crypto Tools
If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy device, you no longer need to download Coinbase Wallet separately, enter your banking information manually, or fuss with setup. A few taps in the Samsung crypto wallet or Samsung Pay gets you signed in, funded, and ready to transact, removing barriers that typically overwhelm newcomers.
2. Boost in Trust & Familiarity
Many people already trust Samsung Pay for everyday purchases. When that trust extends to crypto purchases within the Coinbase Wallet, users feel more secure. The biometric security and Knox-level protection under the hood also reassure people who might otherwise avoid self-custody options altogether.
3. Less Friction vs. Traditional Installation Process
Instead of searching app stores, downloading unsafe APKs, or entering recovery phrases, users now have a friction-light path: have a Galaxy phone, open Wallet, and activate Coinbase. It’s smoother and safer than manually hunting for and installing apps.
4. Instant Crypto Purchases via Samsung Pay
Thanks to the Samsung Pay integration, users in North America can fund Coinbase Wallet directly, including tapping to transfer, so buying crypto feels as familiar as paying for coffee. No bank transfers, no missing input fields, just seamless action within a trusted mobile payment environment.
5. Access to Smart Wallet Onboarding Without Seed Phrases
Through integration with Coinbase’s Smart Wallet technology, also supported in this setup, users can bypass the usual complexity. They can create a fully functioning self-custody wallet using biometric passkeys instead of lengthy seed phrases, making crypto access feel as intuitive as using Apple or Google Pay.
The Role of UX and Trust in Crypto Apps
A great user experience and a trusted brand are often the difference between curiosity and adoption for crypto newcomers.
UX is the First Barrier to Adoption
If your wallet app is confusing, slow, or buggy, most people won’t stick around. Clear interface design, intuitive onboarding flows, and fast performance matter a lot more than flashy features.
Coinbase stands out by offering interfaces that feel familiar, like bank apps, but with crypto power under the hood. That matters when bringing non-crypto users into space.
Coinbase’s Brand, Compliance & Licensing Boost Comfort
Coinbase is the first to enter regulated markets, including the Bit License in New York, Japan, and registration in Canada and the Netherlands. Trust is supported by their openness to transparency, AML/KYC and frequent audits.
In surveys, people whose bank-like brand values aligned with safety and reputation were significantly more comfortable using Coinbase than platforms with no regulatory history.
Built-In Crypto Tools Lower Entry Barriers
When crypto tools are embedded into platforms people already use, like smartphones or payment apps, they feel less foreign. A Samsung device or Coinbase Wallet that lives alongside standard finance features makes crypto functional in everyday life, not just a tech curiosity.
Security Features You Can See and Feel
Features like biometric login, encryption in Samsung Knox Vault, and two-factor authentication make crypto look more like secure banking. When users see these built-in protections and don’t have to handle seed phrases manually, they’re more likely to feel safe diving into crypto.
Active Communication and Education
Coinbase goes beyond trading; it offers in-app tips, email reminders, and learning resources to help people understand crypto basics. That commitment to education helps reduce fear and uncertainty, building long-term confidence among users.
Comparison to Apple and Google Ecosystem Plays
Apple and Google are moving cautiously in the crypto space, while Samsung’s new partnership gives it a potential early advantage in mainstream adoption.
Apple’s Conservative Approach
Apple has historically taken a cautious stance on crypto. While crypto wallets like Coinbase and MetaMask are available on the App Store, Apple has restricted NFT and in-app crypto operations, requiring developers to use its 30% in-app purchase system, which makes features like NFT transfers practically unworkable. Coinbase even had to disable its NFT-sending function on iOS due to Apple’s restrictions.
Google’s Crypto Experiments
Google allows crypto payments indirectly via third-party apps that support Apple Pay or Google Pay, and some exchanges (like Bitget and Safello) have enabled crypto purchases using those systems. But Google hasn’t embedded native wallet or dApp support in Google Wallet itself.
Wallets, NFTs & DeFi: Where Each Platform Stands
Apple has not permitted full NFT or token functionality in its App Store unless Apple takes a cut, limiting creativity and sending. It also shows hesitance to enable full blockchain capabilities within Apple Wallet or iOS natively.
Samsung, meanwhile, is delivering wallet access and crypto payments in a hardware-backed ecosystem without forcing users through app-store taxation or gateway fees. While NFTs and dApps are supported indirectly via Coinbase, Samsung’s crypto goal is to lower entry friction across the board.
Can Samsung Capture Mindshare and Mainstream Usage?
Sampling the approach of adding crypto tools to the current payment processes, the Samsung company can become the first one to be crypto-intuitive to the typical user, compared to Apple and Google. The platform may increase the mainstream adoption among the Samsung crypto wallet users in North America and beyond.
If Samsung keeps adding features, such as seamless dApp access or NFT viewing via trusted wallet interfaces, it has a unique opportunity to set a usability benchmark, one that Apple and Google would struggle to match given their more locked-down ecosystems.
Conclusion: Is This Crypto’s “iPhone Moment”?
The introduction of Samsung products that are designed with in-built crypto functionality is comparable to the iPhone that turned the mobile internet into the mainstream. In the same way the iPhone made web applications accessible to the general population, easy access to digital assets on normal smartphones may reduce the barrier to adoption of blockchain.
As crypto tools have now become part of regular everyday devices, users might begin to treat digital wallets like any other app, as something they utilize to send money, store tokens, or access Web3 services without any technical expertise. This convenience might eventually result in making crypto a normal aspect of daily life.
Still, this moment only becomes crypto’s true “iPhone moment” if it sparks widespread adoption across the industry and is backed by user trust, education, and real-world utility. Samsung may have lit the fuse, but the explosion depends on what comes next.