Why Apple Will NOT Announce an Apple Coin on the iPhone 11 Event?

Sep 10, 2019
13:09
2 min reading

Choise.com team

The cryptocurrency sector has radically improved over the past few years. While the average person is still not too keen to invest in cryptocurrencies, large corporations are regularly creating products based on blockchain technology.

Facebook is leading a cryptocurrency project, major smartphone producers such as Samsung and HTC are creating blockchain phones, and conglomerates like IBM are running pilot projects for blockchain use cases. However, the are no news coming from the once-innovative Apple company.

While co-founder and ex-employee Steve Wozniak, who recently invested in a blockchain company in Malta, openly supports cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, Apple does not have a positive stance towards the industry.

In fact, Apple tends to sanction the use of cryptocurrencies on their products. iPhone users have the ability to download and use 3rd-party crypto wallets, but Apple recently made it clear that it is forbidden to buy cryptocurrencies with the Apple Card. The tech giant also refuses to provide mining apps on the iOS app store.

A turn of events?

The company might take a different direction, especially as the Vice President of Apple Pay, Jennifer Bailey, revealed that Apple is observing the cryptocurrency sector. Bailey also added that they believe that the sector has long-term potential.

Referring to the possible adoption of cryptocurrencies by the world, Bailey referred to the use of QR codes and the recent production of QR code-based systems. The Vice President believes that both products, combined with cryptocurrencies, have the potential to replace, or at least provide a functional payment alternative to credit cards.

If the sudden statement secretly points out that Apple may deliver a blockchain or crypto product soon, the company may announce it today during the iPhone 11 event.

However, that is highly unlikely. While Apple does enjoy surprising its customers during these kinds of events, the company took a sharp turn once Tim Cook became the CEO. Under his ‘reign’, Apple started to focus on creating gradual improvements, rather than introducing entirely new products.

The chance to see a blockchain product today is rather slim, and the possibility of a crypto project like Facebook’s Libra (the Apple Coin) is even farther away. Even Bailey herself stated that we won’t see anything crypto-related from them ‘anytime soon’.

Some surface-level research has also shown that Apple did not post any crypto or blockchain-related positions on its LinkedIn job board. Both Amazon and Facebook have more than a dozen open positions, but the case may be that Apple is potentially hiding their project.

The possible development would put a smile on the crypto community, as the company has a great following despite the regular criticism it receives. If Apple were to feature a crypto product, their customers might gain a better insight into the industry and even go as far as to invest and participate in the sector.

Will tech giants stay tech-only?

The only new product that is not another iPhone revision is the Apple Card. The tech giant showed the world that they have an interest in the financial sector, especially given their blunt statement that the card is ‘Created by Apple, not a bank’.

If the company decided to become bold, Apple could even integrate crypto wallets and payments into the Apple Card. Integrating these functions would significantly boost the adoption rate of cryptocurrencies, but the more important part is that the iPhone would have an official crypto wallet.

For now, we already have two major tech companies that try to replace financial institutions. While Facebook is under intense regulatory pressure for trying to launch the Libra cryptocurrency, Apple’s fate may be more certain as the company is known to protect user data, and not sell it.