Tim Cook Says Apple Is Looking into Cryptocurrency
wsj.com
wsj.com
> Despite the company's lack of "immediate" plans to get involved in the world of cryptocurrency, Cook did say that it's something Apple is "looking into." Cook said that Apple has no plans to invest in cryptocurrency given his belief that "people [don't] buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto. So if they want to do that, they can you know, invest directly in crypto through other means."
> Speaking on the growing popularity of NFTs, Cook says it too is also "interesting" but that it will "take a while to play out in a way that is for the mainstream person."
Any tech company that might be in a position to profit off of providing crypto-related services is, of course, going to keep tabs on it.
But this does seem like journalists are reaching deep to twist Cook's words into the opposite of what he said. Crypto headlines get clicks regardless of the underlying content.
> Speaking on the growing popularity of NFTs, Cook says it too is also "interesting" but that it will "take a while to play out in a way that is for the mainstream person."
Eg See the sorts of messes Elon Musk gets himself into
This doesn't mean Apple will never adopt interoperability with crypto platforms, just as they adopt other industry standards, but crypto is unlikely to ever be the focus of a new Apple product offering.
Now if you wanted to change the whole system to where the government doesnt need authority over home titles anymore in any way (taxation, ownership enforcement, etc), then thats a possibility. Not saying this is a good or bad idea. Phones are harder for me to see this as ever a possibility because its really a partnership where Apple provides ongoing support.
1 kg of Rhodium is trading around $493,189 vs $66,787 per Bitcoin. Rhodium is 738% better if you equate 1 kg to 1 bitcoin! Wow, put all your money into precious metals!
You mean iTunes gift cards?
While there are alternative systems (like instant bank transfers) in many countries they don't work when you buy something from another country even if both are in EU for example.
Indeed. People who say everything works fine because that one time they had zero issues have no idea what it's like to deal with EUR / JPY / USD / AED transfers on a semi-regular basis. If you do it all the time, you may have found something that works all the time. If you do it once, you may have been lucky. But if you do it two or three times a year, you're in for a world of hurt, surprise fees, delays, cancelled transfers, etc. You cannot have "not noticed this" or say "I never had any surprise".
Worse: if you're working with the EUR but outside the eurozone (like Andorra and Monaco, which both use the EUR but aren't in the EU) you can have very nasty surprises. You better read and re-read any fineprints because you sign any bank account opening because you can find yourself paying 2% + fixed fees + tax on the fees on every transfer to/from the country.
Very often all these are hidden from the consumers and the burden is put on the businesses. I was in Andorra, I bought a bike for my kid: seller was doing 5% discount if I was paying cash... And it's not to dodge taxes (taxes are maximum 10% there for any business): it's not to "cheat" 0.5% on the sale by not reporting it. It's because the banks/payment processors take a very heavy cut.
Now there may be solutions but it's something you have to actively look into. It's not just "I open a bank account in that country, another one in that country and then everything works magically".
Funnily enough: at some point using EUR->crypto then crypto->AED (just an example) may turn out to be cheaper than doing EUR->AED.
But it is interesting when it becomes a clash of cultures of new and old. Will bitcoiners betray their principles for apple's golden cages? Coming soon, to a theater near you
Unsurprising how Apple (even Tim Cook) waits for the whole industry first before entering in themselves to 'get it right'.
It's likely they are going to partner with a leading cryptocurrency exchange or a bank that uses CBDCs to use cryptocurrencies all from Apple Wallet.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29065134
[1] https://www.ft.com/content/2b30e69d-6662-40e8-9735-eaea86629...