Tim Cook Says Apple Is Looking into Cryptocurrency(wsj.com)
wsj.com
Tim Cook Says Apple Is Looking into Cryptocurrency
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tim-cook-says-apple-is-looking-into-cryptocurrency-11636475111
40 comments
Let's hope they come to the conclusion that centralized pegged to USD Apple tokens beat cryptocurrencies in all important metrics. Then let's hope they actually implement it and compete with banks and credit card companies. We really need fast, reliable and cheaper system to transfer money and pay for stuff.
It would be nice if the steward of that was based in 1st world country and subject to oversight. It would also be very nice if they could iterate over inefficient blockchain into something actually suitable for the task like an SQL database.
I'm intrigued by this post, because in most of the world we already have a fast, reliable and cheap system to transfer money and pay for stuff with actual money via banks. I'm not sure if the US is unique in not having this, but asking for all this to be based in a "1st world country" when there are plenty of 3rd world countries who have vastly superior banking systems to the US is kinda weird.
We don't have a system to pay for things. Bank transfers abroad are also a huge pain. You never know how much you're going to pay in fees. Every time you buy something with a credit/debit card or PayPal or any other payment provider the transaction costs are at least 3% and often much higher. Banks also exploit currency conversion at every possible step sometimes incurring ridiculous double conversion fees. Even normal conversion is often very costly.
It's a big chunk of online economy existing players extract rent from.
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.
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.
> You never know how much you're going to pay in fees.
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.
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.
Thanks for the reply, I kinda get where you're coming from though 99% of the time, certainly here in the UK, we never see those fees - all debit card transactions and contactless payments in physical stores are close enough to free that the store pays, not the customer. Online though, yeah, totally with you. And also with you on the rather unsavoury practices of the banks.
You thinking that the stores pay, not the customer is part of the problem. The fees are just hidden from you. The cost of business of higher and so are the prices.
> centralized pegged to USD Apple tokens
You mean iTunes gift cards?
You mean iTunes gift cards?
And scammers already love them.
You know what scammers love even more: credit cards. If you ever dealt with selling things world wide you would know how bad it is from merchant perspective. There is also precious little you can do about it with official Visa advice being "try to verify if your customer is legit by contacting them using info they provided when submitting the order". That the scammer is going to provide their own email is something they haven't considered but will gladly issue a chargeback with additional fees on to.
Take a look at solana.com. 400 ms block time.
From another (non-paywalled) article: https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/09/tim-cook-owns-cryptocur...
> 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.
> 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.
Agreed, in particular this seems like trying very hard not to say something negative without actually saying anything positive:
> 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."
> 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."
It's so ridiculous that all these huge bosses of corporate America feel the need to not say anything negative. So far only Valve has responded relatively well to this bullshit.
Valve is a private company which gives them a lot more freedom in their statements. Apple is a public company, their statements have real and sometimes severe consequences.
Eg See the sorts of messes Elon Musk gets himself into
Eg See the sorts of messes Elon Musk gets himself into
The iCoin - Completely revolutionary digital coin, 400% better than bitcoin.
Metal coins are already 400% better than Bitcoin so...
In what way? Rhodium is currently trading around 13,977.26 USD an ounce, where a single bitcoin is currently worth 66,787.30. That means bitcoin is almost 480% better if you equate 1 oz to 1 bitcoin.
This is a dumb comparison. An ounce as a unit is arbitrary. A Bitcoin as a unit is arbitrary (but arguably less so). I'm in a metric country so lets use that.
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!
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!
Trade up your iCoin 12 - for 0.85x credit on iCoin 13. Terms apply.
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Finally. It has been definitively admitted as I have speculated before [0] and along side with this recent job posting [1].
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...
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...
It s a small step from apple pay to applecoin, they do have tons of cash stored around the world, and dont really know what to do with it. Google has the same
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
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
Its a step that's never going to happen because its a terrible idea.
I just can't see anything blockchain in Apple's DNA. The decentralized nature of the technology doesn't fit with the Apple way of vertical integration in pursuit of the most seamless, optimized, low-overhead and high-margin product experience possible.
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.
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.
Theres not some grand crypto plan, they probably will just accept them in apple pay one day. Maybe some nft related things. Thats about it.
Proof of ownership of a device is another.
No. This meme should really die, cryptocurrency does not allow for "proof of ownership" in any way.
While I am not sure it provides enough real benefits 'does not allow it in any way' is clearly wrong. A company can decide that they acknowledge ownership based on whatever entry they originally put on the blockchain (with or without the ability for a user to trade it), perhaps tied to a private key built into the device or belonging to the user (but then there's a risk they lose their key).
The private key is what accomplishes what you're describing, not the blockchain.
Private key on its own doesn't provide things like history of trades. And at any rate, you said it 'does not allow it'.
A blockchain does not provide a "history of trades", the blockchain oracle does, there is no need to add a blockchain into the mix since you already have to trust the centralized oracle (in this case, Apple).
Thats what your apple ID is for. The problem with ownership on the blockchain is it still depends on a central authority recognition for most useful things. For instance your home title still needs to be recognized by the government. And if thats the case you might as well just have a database derived from the authority.
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.
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.
How would that be done in any more useful way than it is right now?
Apple is one of the largest companies in the world. The bar for “looking into it” is pretty low for giants. It would be news if they weren’t looking into it. This statement doesn’t mean Apple has a business plan with cryptocurrency, let alone that they will go for it.
People in this thread are mainly talking about Apple introducing their own coin but I wonder if the more realistic move is to support Crypto in their Wallet app. They could make a pretty compelling argument for it being a safe space to store Crypto but at the end of the day I'm not sure what this would gain them.
NFT are used for money laundering. It makes money laundering very easy. Anyone who seriously subscribed to NFT for jpegs are kidding themselves.