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Twitter’s crypto community is anticipating an announcement from Apple that will highlight the company’s first purchase of Bitcoin(BTC). According to rumors circulating on the social media platform, Apple has invested a whopping $2.5 billion in the flagship cryptocurrency. These speculations are intriguing since the tech behemoth has never openly endorsed Bitcoin or any other digital currencies.
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Apple Invests in Bitcoin: Fact or Fiction
Crypto analysts and traders have been speculating Apple’s interest in digital currencies for quite some time. But the latest round of rumors is especially notable since some of the accounts have specified an exact amount invested by Apple. Take, for instance, Chainlink CEO Joshuwa Roomsburg, who puts the rumored purchase at $2.5 billion and tweeted that he would celebrate a confirmation from Apple by buying one of its smartphones.
Rumor has it, #Apple will make an announcement today that they have purchased $2.5B in #Bitcoin
If that happens, I'll buy the latest #iPhone TODAY! I won't use it, I'll just keep it as a souvenir for when #BTC started it's climb to $100k. ⏳ Imagine what alts will do! pic.twitter.com/YyNWSUzz7V
— Joshuwa Roomsburg 🌎⛓️ (@JoshRoomsburg) July 12, 2021
Following Tesla’s announcement that it had acquired Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion, expectations were high that Apple may do the same and move the currency’s price higher in the process. But some observers have always been skeptical of these claims and maintained that the technology company would not jump anytime soon into the crypto sphere.
Ran Neuner, the CEO of OnChain Capital has outright rejected the possibility of Apple placing bets on cryptocurrencies. Similarly, pseudonymous crypto trader @Flappening has placed Apple’s chances of buying Bitcoin in the negative.
Echoing a similar sentiment, DevOps engineer, Alexander Ross added, “Apple don’t do anything controversial. They’re very brand conscious. Bitcoin does not at this juncture fit with its brand ethos. I would love nothing more, but it’s too rebellious a move for them and too many opportunities for people to use it against them.”
Nevertheless, crypto enthusiasts are excited about Apple’s probable involvement in Bitcoin and its implications for the market.
Apple’s Employment Commercial Signals Interest in Cryptocurrencies
In 2019, Jennifer Bailey, the vice president of Apple Pay, said that the technology company thinks cryptocurrencies are interesting. But it wasn’t until late May this year, that Apple took its first concrete steps at embracing the crypto-led transformation in the financial sector. The company advertised a job for a Business Development Manager who had experience in alternative payments. In its advert, the company demanded that potential candidates must have “5+ years experience working in or with alternative payment providers, such as digital wallets, BNPL, Fast Payments, cryptocurrency and etc..“
According to RBC Capital market analyst Mitch Steves, Apple stands to gain as much as $40 billion from digital currencies if it provides an exchange feature in the Apple Pay Wallet. He noted, “Apple’s install base is 1.5B, and even if we assume only 200M users would transact, this is 6.66x larger than Square. Therefore, the potential revenue opportunity would be in excess of $40 billion a year (15% incremental top-line opportunity).”