Key Takeaways
- John Ternus’s bitcoin and crypto stance remains largely unknown as he takes over as Apple’s CEO.
- Apple’s crypto asset strategy could depend as much on other executives and market trends as on Ternus.
- Stablecoin payments could be Apple’s most likely entry point into crypto assets.
August 31 is Tim Cook’s last day at the company as CEO, after serving in this position for 15 years and now moving into the executive chairman position. On September 1, John Ternus moves from senior vice president of Hardware Engineering to the CEO’s office.
Apple has been one of the most closely watched tech giants when it comes to integrating bitcoin (BTC) or other crypto assets into its products and services. However, besides Cook’s remarks about his personal investment in BTC and some speculation about stablecoin integrations, there have been no concrete, public, and confirmed steps taken by Apple on its own initiative toward crypto assets. Now, the most specific known intersection of Apple products and crypto assets is also the saddest, as its App Store and its users are suffering from BTC- and crypto-stealing fake apps.
Chief Mystery Officers
Meanwhile, Ternus is an even bigger mystery when it comes to his views on crypto assets, as there is no public information about them. However, what the industry is sometimes missing is that the CEO of Apple has never been the only person shaping the company’s crypto asset strategy. Now, with Ternus taking the reins, the CEO’s influence on those decisions might be even smaller. He’s considered to be less experienced in finance and sales; therefore, per Bloomberg’s sources, Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan, Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh, and Eddy Cue, the services chief, are poised to become more influential at the company. However, when it comes to the company’s crypto asset strategy, their influence would also depend on the now-unknown Ternus’s position on these assets and technology.
Two other positions that could also steer Apple’s strategy toward or away from bitcoin and crypto are the vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, and the company’s hardware boss. The latter is now held by Ternus’s successor, Johny Srouji, Chief Hardware Officer, responsible for both the chip design and overall hardware engineering teams, at a time when their top competitor, Samsung, is working on turning its Galaxy phone into crypto asset wallets. The longtime boss of Apple Pay and Wallet services, Jennifer Bailey, is retiring in October, and her successor is still unknown.
‘Watching Cryptocurrency’ Since 2019
Of all these executives, only Bailey and Cue have either spoken about crypto assets or had more specific, known ties to them. While it might not be too encouraging, Bailey was quoted as saying in 2019 that Apple is “watching cryptocurrency” as the company thinks “it’s interesting” and “has long-term potential.” However, it seems that there have been no updates on this interest since then. Meanwhile, Eddy Cue was a member of the board of directors at Tom Brady’s now-discontinued NFT platform Autograph, which was merged with Future, a fitness platform, where Cue is still listed among the directors.
Therefore, with the arrival of Ternus and the departure of Bailey, the industry has even fewer clues as to how Apple’s strategy toward crypto assets might change.
What Could Come First
More clues may come from the crypto asset industry itself, as adoption is growing, stablecoins in particular, and competitors such as Samsung keep making their own crypto moves. Also, the company must find new sources of revenue to keep growing, after its revenue jumped almost 4x, while its market capitalization grew 13x under Cook.
All this might force Apple to look into stablecoin or BTC payments, third-party crypto wallets using iPhone NFC, or even BTC on its balance sheet, among other possibilities. Based on the industry’s developments, a stablecoin-related product and/or service is the most likely to reach Apple’s users first.
While these are speculations with varying degrees of likelihood, the company might also be in no rush to work on its crypto asset-related plans until the U.S. clarifies the regulatory uncertainty that still lingers.
Based on all of the above, it seems that at least in the near future, Apple won’t fall far from its own tree when it comes to crypto assets. Therefore, fake crypto apps on its App Store are likely to be the only confirmed crypto-asset-related news from this company for some time, until something cracks.
Bitcoin.com News has contacted Apple for comment.
