During an interview with Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook clarified his position on digital currencies and explained that he is not comfortable with the idea that a group of people can create their own cryptocurrency.
“No. I really think that a currency should stay in the hands of countries. I’m not comfortable with the idea of a private group setting up a competing currency”.
This statement shows the CEO’s concern, as well as a clear distrust, towards digital currencies. In other words, for Cook, currencies should be in the hands of countries, the only real operators who can guarantee a valid exchange rate.
However, this thinking is not in line with what was announced several months ago during the WWDC, where the famous CryptoKit was unveiled, a tool allowing developers to create and operate with the public and private keys of digital currencies.
Jennifer Bailey, vice-president of Apple Pay, has a different opinion and just last month she said:
“We’re watching cryptocurrency. We think it has interesting long-term potential, but we’re primarily focused on what consumers are using today”.
This statement could very well be interpreted with a view to satisfying the user and so, if most users were to request a digital currency, this could certainly happen in the future.
In light of these statements, it is thus quite difficult to believe the CEO’s words.
Moreover, it is worth remembering that Apple, which started out as a computer company, surprised everyone when it launched its first smartphone, changing and opening up to a completely different sector than the original. Is this also a strategy? Or is Apple aiming to make its new electronic card and payment system the only real alternative to the traditional payment system?
