With the world’s leading consumer electronics giant yet to incorporate cryptocurrency features, the cryptocurrency community is asking itself whether Apple will ever make a foray into Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies. Although this might seem far-fetched at the moment, there are ways in which Apple could incorporate blockchain elements into its product range. With Apple being the world’s foremost consumer technology company and Bitcoin being the premier cryptocurrency, any potential Apple foray into crypto would presumably include Bitcoin. Although Apple hasn’t made any comments to support that it’s working on Bitcoin integration, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill. Herein, we’ll explore some of the most recent “Apple and Bitcoin” theories and whether they hold any merit.
In this article, we’ll go over the value propositions of Apple and Bitcoin. Also, we’ll go over what the adoption of Apple would mean for the crypto industry as a whole. Plus, we’ll look at common narratives exploring the potential impact an Apple and Bitcoin functionality update could bring.
For readers wanting to know more about Bitcoin and its underlying technology, be sure to read our “What is Bitcoin?” and “Blockchain Explained” articles. Alternatively, discover the Blockchain & Bitcoin Fundamentals course at Moralis Academy, the leading Web3 education suite, to kickstart your blockchain career!
Exploring Different Rumors About Apple and Bitcoin
In anticipation of the Bitcoin 2022 conference, some niche rumors began making the rounds that an Apple crypto announcement could be in the cards for the event. Although no such announcement ever came, this didn’t stop widespread speculation over how a potential Apple adoption of crypto would look. Granted, Apple is one of the leading global tech giants and doesn’t need to adopt crypto. However, as cryptocurrency adoption grows increasingly mainstream, pressure could mount on Apple to eventually follow suit and offer Bitcoin support.
The growing institutional adoption of cryptocurrency as a store of value (from companies such as Microstrategy and Tesla) mainly makes for catchy headlines. However, it’s also symptomatic of the growing institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate asset class. It lays the foundations for mass adoption through regulatory compliance and mass onboarding tools. Cryptocurrency adoption by such an established player as Apple would be a true milestone for Bitcoin adoption. As such, there’s an abundance of “hopium” and rampant speculation over whether Apple might be entering the crypto industry. Although this currently looks unlikely, let’s take a look at some of the rumors surrounding Apple and Bitcoin.
Why Apple and Bitcoin?
So, why do people think Apple might be warming up to Bitcoin? In numerous interviews, Steve Wozniak, one of Apple’s co-founders, has stated his affection for Bitcoin and its revolutionary technological abilities. In a Yahoo News interview, he says: “It’s just mathematically pure. And I believe nature over humans always”. Alongside this, Apple CEO Tim Cook has publicly stated that he owns different cryptocurrencies saying, “it’s a wise investment for a diversified portfolio”. However, Cook also made it clear in December 2021 that Apple is interested in the technological benefits of cryptocurrency rather than holding Bitcoin from a treasury perspective.
Bitcoin is arguably the most cutting-edge revolutionary innovation within the last 20 years. The underlying technology, blockchain, radically changes the way people interact and transact money and data. Also, blockchain facilitates publicly transparent immutable transactions. That means data cannot be altered or removed. Blockchain operates as a global network of computers collaboratively verifying the validity of transactions via mathematical equations. Further, Bitcoin is designed to be censorship-resistant, borderless, and permissionless. Also, unlike existing closed payment networks, the technology is open-source for anyone to contribute with progressive innovations. Moreover, a majority vote is required from the Bitcoin community before developers can implement any changes.
Apple and the Cryptocurrency Industry
Worth over $2.5 trillion, Apple is currently worth more than three times Bitcoin’s entire market cap ($776 billion). Currently, Apple is even worth more than the whole cryptocurrency market ($1.9 trillion, according to CoinGecko). As such, some will surely question whether Apple has any interest in jumping head-first into the cryptocurrency industry. This is not surprising as Apple’s market cap alone “dwarfs” the entire cryptocurrency industry. Nevertheless, Apple has clearly stated that it believes Apple’s various services are important growth drivers – which includes Apple Pay. If Apple truly intends to bring support for cryptocurrencies, Apple Pay would be an immensely valuable vehicle to do so.
Will Apple Introduce Crypto Financial Services?
With over one billion active iPhone users globally, Apple is one of the major smartphone players, with 23.4% of the market. As one of the most powerful handset manufacturers, Apple already allows users to interact with certain crypto apps. Users can download apps such as Coinbase, Binance, and MetaMask. Nevertheless, this often comes with restrictions and limitations compared to desktop versions. In addition, Apple currently regards certain NFT-viewing apps as “not appropriate for the App Store”. When Gnosis wallet developer, Lukas Schor, asked Apple why its mobile app was removed from the App Store, he received the following reply:
“The app allows users to store and send NFT’s (sic) which are digital items in nature in the Collectibles section of the app. This feature is not appropriate for the App Store.”
This clearly states Apple’s hesitancy toward the crypto and NFT space. An open-source designer and early Ethereum contributor, Ric Burton, states in a recent Economic Times interview: “You have to remember that Apple is a company that makes products for people to access protocols”. Burton reminds readers that the iPod was the catalyst for the global adoption of the MP3 standard for music files. He believes the iPhone has an opportunity to do the same for internet and Web3 standards.
Apple Pay was revolutionary for digital payments from a handset perspective. In short, Apple Pay has digitized the physical debit card, allowing people to leave their wallets at home. If Apple wishes to keep up with the evolving financial paradigm, it could make sense to explore the crypto industry. In turn, this could open up new payment avenues for billions of users.
To discover how the crypto industry operates on a more fundamental level, save our “What is Crypto?” and “DeFi Explained” articles for later!
Apple Pay
There was stubborn speculation leading up to the Bitcoin 2022 conference that Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, would unveil an Apple partnership at the event. This originated in a selfie from Mallers wearing a retro Apple cap, which set off a whirlwind of speculation. This led some to prematurely speculate so far on Twitter as to question whether Apple might be planning to switch its payment network provider for Apple Pay. Nevertheless, this announcement ultimately never came to pass, as most rational spectators suspected all along. That said, it does pose an interesting question – whether Apple would ever be willing to partner with a cryptocurrency payment service.
Browser Extensions
Another area where Apple could potentially break into the cryptocurrency market is through browser extensions. With more than one million monthly active users (MAU), the leading Web3 wallet, MetaMask, is one of the Web3 industry’s most influential authentication tools. However, it is currently only available on browsers such as Chrome and Brave, but not Safari. According to Statistica, more than half of Americans (54%) use Safari as their primary browser on their phone. As such, simply introducing a Safari MetaMask browser extension would presumably make crypto users far more likely to use Safari.
Future Potential of Apple and Cryptocurrency Projects to Look Out For
Beyond payment services, there are other ways Apple could introduce cryptocurrency aspects to its product line. Below, we’ll go through some of the rumors surrounding crypto functionality for Apple’s iPhones and iPads.
Hardware Wallet
Recent articles have suggested that Apple could potentially release an update that would allow iPhones to act as hardware wallets. Although this rumor might seem outlandish, Apple is no stranger to handling secure data. Apple has already proven it is more than capable of handling personal or financial data through Touch ID, Face ID, and Apple Pay. Specifically, Apple devices store these details in a “secure enclave” – put simply, a subsystem that iOS cannot directly access.
For an Apple iPhone to be secure enough to store cryptographic funds, it would have to add an encryption signature. Formally referred to as an “Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm”, an ECDSA would allow an iPhone to become as secure as other crypto hardware wallets already on the market.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that traders typically store their crypto funds on a hardware wallet. The general idea for hardware wallets is offline storage of cryptographic assets that investors won’t frequently access. You could think of software wallets (e.g., browser wallets) as carrying a wallet or purse for online shopping. Conversely, hardware wallets are akin to storing money in a bank or safe. The prospect of iPhone users carrying hardware wallets around can seem daunting. For example, how many times can you think of yourself or friends losing or breaking their iPhones over the years? On the other hand, this would not have to be any different than how most people already use their phones to access a banking application, which holds just as sensitive financial data.
Mining Device
It is impossible to talk about Bitcoin and crypto without discussing the premise of Bitcoin mining. It is currently not possible to use an iPhone as a Bitcoin mining device. However, it is actually possible to mine certain other cryptocurrencies. First and foremost, iPhones stand zero chance of mining any proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain, as this requires immense amounts of computational power. Bitcoin mining also consumes vast amounts of electricity and has hotly debated sustainability issues. Nevertheless, there are an increasing number of crypto projects with alternative consensus mechanisms that allow iOS devices to “mine” them.
What Apple Adoption Means for the Crypto Industry
Fundamentally, equipping Apple’s iOS devices with cryptocurrency features could potentially onboard over one billion new users to the blockchain industry. Moreover, Apple could kickstart the exponential adoption of the Web3 evolution across a range of industries and generations. However, the question is whether Apple could be persuaded to enter the cryptocurrency industry. At the moment, nothing – besides the hopes and dreams of the cryptocurrency community – seems to point to Apple announcing Bitcoin support.
Nevertheless, as a fast-growing global community force, Bitcoin is not going anywhere. At the same time, a whopping 83.72% of the global population own and use a smartphone today. This makes it clear that smartphone manufacturers must embrace cryptocurrency technology if it is ever truly going to replace traditional banking services. At the same time, the World Bank institution states over 25% of the global adult population cannot access banking and financial services. Granted, those without access to traditional financial infrastructure are not all iPhone users, but a slice of this population is bound to be using iOS devices.
Exploring Apple and Bitcoin Rumors – Summary
At the moment, it seems like the rumors of an Apple Bitcoin announcement are just that – rumors. To further prove this, the rumors that Apple might announce some sort of partnership at Bitcoin 2022 predictably fell short. Nevertheless, just because Apple does not seem to have any imminent plans to adopt Bitcoin, it doesn’t mean that it will never do so. As outlined in this article, there are many ways in which Apple can introduce cryptocurrency support.
The speculation and rumor mill never stops churning, and there are slices of the cryptocurrency community out there desperately hoping for Apple to go all-in on crypto. For example, there’s hope that Apple would update its devices to work as hardware wallets, or maybe even boost their mining capabilities. They would also like nothing more than to see Apple incorporate Bitcoin into its treasury. Although Tim Cook has been clear that he does not foresee Apple investing directly in cryptocurrency, things can change quickly in the cryptocurrency world.
If you would like to learn the best ways of getting your hands on Bitcoin, see our “How to Invest in Crypto” article next! Or, check out Moralis Academy for an in-depth industry expert and video-guided tutorial on crypto investing with our Crypto for Beginners course. For those that want to start dapp development, we recommend our ultimate Web3 platform, Moralis software. Start your crypto journey with the leader in Web3 development and education, Moralis Academy!
