Billions-level entry opens! Sei partners with Xiaomi, and the crypto wallet will be pre-installed on hundreds of millions of new phones worldwide

The public chain track is ushering in a disruptive “dimensionality reduction attack.” High-performance blockchain Sei has announced a deep collaboration with global consumer electronics giant Xiaomi. A crypto application integrated with Multi-Party Computation security wallet and DApp discovery features will be pre-installed on all new Xiaomi phones sold outside Mainland China and the US. Additionally, both parties plan to pilot stablecoin payments in Hong Kong and the EU in Q2 2026, covering over 20,000 Xiaomi retail stores worldwide. To accelerate deployment, Sei has also launched a global mobile innovation fund with a scale of $5 million. This move signifies that crypto entry points are shifting from an “active download” era to an “device-native” era, potentially reaching over 160 million Xiaomi users worldwide.

Collaboration Overview: From Pre-installed Wallets to Ecosystem Integration for Offline Payments

This partnership is far more than simple app pre-installation; it represents an ecosystem-level integration spanning hardware entry points, software experience, and payment scenarios. According to the announcement, the cooperation will proceed in phases: in the first phase, a next-generation crypto wallet and DApp discovery app provided by Sei will be built directly into Xiaomi’s system. Users can seamlessly log in with Google or Xiaomi accounts, greatly lowering the high barrier of managing traditional wallet mnemonic phrases. The app incorporates Multi-Party Computation security technology to ensure asset safety and will feature curated high-quality decentralized crypto applications for novice users.

In the second phase, the partnership will explore more disruptive scenarios—stablecoin payments. Both sides plan to enable users to use stablecoins issued natively by Sei, such as USDC, for consumption within Xiaomi’s online and offline ecosystem. From purchasing new phones, smart home products to even Xiaomi electric vehicles, stablecoins could become a payment option. The initial pilot is scheduled to launch in Q2 2026 in Hong Kong and the EU, with subsequent expansion to other compliant markets. If successful, this will be one of the largest direct connections between a major technology retail system and a blockchain payment network.

Supporting this grand vision, Sei Labs has announced a $5 million “Global Mobile Innovation Fund” to incentivize developers to build more user-friendly blockchain applications on consumer devices. This fund will be used to accelerate technological development and market education, marking Sei’s strategic pivot from serving crypto-native users to empowering mainstream consumer-grade applications.

Key Data and Roadmap of Sei and Xiaomi Collaboration

Hardware coverage: All new Xiaomi phones sold outside Mainland China and the US

Xiaomi global market share: approximately 13%, with 168 million phones shipped in 2024

Key market shares: Greece (36.9%), India (24.2%)

Retail network: Over 20,000 stores worldwide

Innovation fund size: $5 million

Stablecoin payment pilot start: Q2 2026 in Hong Kong and the EU

Target expansion regions: Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa

Strategic Analysis: Why is this a “Heaven-sent match” for Xiaomi and Sei?

This partnership appears cross-industry but actually contains a meticulous strategic complementarity logic. For Xiaomi, pre-installing crypto features in its rapidly growing overseas markets (especially Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa) is a highly attractive differentiator. In these regions, cryptocurrency adoption is relatively high, but financial infrastructure is weaker, and users have genuine demand for alternative payment and asset preservation tools. Offering an out-of-the-box crypto entry point can enhance Xiaomi’s local competitiveness and technological perception, especially in markets where it leads (such as Greece with over 36% market share), further consolidating user loyalty.

For Sei, this is a precise “lightning entry.” In the fiercely competitive public chain space, acquiring users is costly. Partnering with Xiaomi provides a direct route to hundreds of millions of potential users with zero customer acquisition costs. Sei co-founder Jay Jog succinctly stated: “We are moving from an era where you have to actively seek out the crypto world to an era where the crypto world actively finds you.” This device-layer integration strategy bypasses app store downloads and complex configurations—traditional friction points—and is the dream pathway for large-scale blockchain adoption.

More importantly, Sei’s “optimized for trading” performance aligns perfectly with this scenario. Its sub-400 millisecond final confirmation time and capacity to process thousands of transactions per second provide the technical backbone for high-frequency, small-value payments among massive consumers. If the pre-installed app successfully attracts users to transfer stablecoins or make payments, Sei’s network will experience real, sustainable transaction volumes—much more valuable than mere incentivized “farming” activities.

Industry Disruption: How does pre-installation rewrite blockchain competition rules?

Sei’s collaboration with Xiaomi opens a new “device entry” front in public chain competition. Traditional growth logic revolves around developer incentives (grants), DeFi ecosystem subsidies, and community building—essentially fighting over a limited pool of crypto-native developers and users. Sei’s move directly circumvents this red ocean, targeting billions of mainstream smartphone users who have yet to engage with blockchain.

This signals an upgrade from pure “technology performance and ecosystem subsidies” to a competition of “distribution channels and ecosystem integration.” Success in establishing deep collaborations with consumer electronics brands, social platforms, or streaming services with massive user bases could be key for the next-generation public chain to stand out. Once validated, this model could trigger a wave of collaborations between other public chains and smartphone manufacturers, automakers, or operating system platforms.

At the same time, it also raises new requirements for crypto application development paradigms. Pre-installed apps must prioritize user experience and security, being “out-of-the-box” and “foolproof” in operation. This pushes wallet and DApp developers to think from the start about how to serve novices, driving the entire industry toward more friendly and seamless user experiences. For the long-neglected user experience issues in crypto, this represents a strong external market correction.

Challenges and Outlook: Barriers on the path to billions of users

Despite the promising prospects, the road to mainstream adoption remains fraught with obstacles. The most pressing challenge is the complex global regulatory environment. Different countries and regions have varying attitudes and regulations regarding crypto pre-installation and stablecoin payments. The cooperation explicitly excludes the Chinese and US markets, reflecting regulatory sensitivities. How to harmonize with local laws in target markets will be the greatest uncertainty facing the project.

Second, actual user adoption is uncertain. Pre-installation solves the “availability” problem but cannot force users to “use.” How to activate users’ first on-chain interaction through engaging onboarding, valuable airdrops, or integrated local payment incentives is critical to the success or failure of this partnership. Xiaomi needs to identify compelling scenarios that motivate non-crypto users to use wallets.

Long-term, if the stablecoin payment pilot succeeds, the potential is enormous. Xiaomi’s vast IoT ecosystem—including smart homes, wearables, and even electric vehicles—could become on-chain payment endpoints. Crypto payments would no longer be a concept but a practical tool integrated into daily life for hundreds of millions. This might truly be the “watershed” of blockchain adoption Sei envisions—when technology is no longer the focus, but seamless usage, a real revolution quietly unfolds.

Conclusion

The partnership between Sei and Xiaomi is no ordinary business collaboration. It’s like dropping a giant stone into a calm lake, with ripples spreading across blockchain development strategies, crypto application distribution, and mainstream adoption pathways. It marks a shift in the industry away from “building gardens” internally, toward directly integrating into the already flourishing “consumer tech giant tree.”

Success hinges on detailed market deployment and user experience over the next two years. But one thing is clear: the shortcut to large-scale adoption may lie in the billions of consumers holding their smartphones daily. When crypto apps become part of the phone’s factory settings, an era of “searching for users” is ending, while a new era of “serving users” quietly begins with the next startup ringtone.