Apple is on the verge of getting into cryptocurrencies by creating a sizable new market for growth. The rumor is that the iPhone maker will develop its Apple Wallet into a crypto exchange, according to RBC Capital Markets.
Apple has seen a clear opportunity to offer a buying and selling mechanism for cryptocurrencies, a move that would allow the company to immediately gain a market share. Companies like Square and PayPal along with Coinbase, have all validated the exchange model as a real business. What would be in benefit of Apple is that the company has a strong security ecosystem.
For example, PayPal has climbed with 40% since it announced it would allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their accounts. Also, we know what happened with Tesla on Monday and how it reflected on the market – the stock price of the electric cars maker grew with 1.3% and Bitcoin itself jumped with 16%. So the Apple decision is completely logical and we can expect more of the Big Tech companies to get involved with cryptocurrencies.
The RBC report even suggested that Apple could attract users to the service by buying 1 billion dollars in Bitcoin itself, more or less like Tesla did.
RBC analyst Mitch Steves said that such an initiative would require a limited R&D spend from Apple with potential to raise more than $40bn in annual revenue.
Apple getting involved in cryptocurrency could also make USA a leader in the crypto industry in the coming decades which would further the mainstreaming of Bitcoin by giving the cryptocurrency grounds for government support.