Tim Cook shares his interest and personal investment in Bitcoin. Would Apple be shifting into crypto as well?

While there are many tech companies that has been very vocal about their views and stance on Bitcoin, there has been one person who has been relatively quiet and mysterious about his. And this person in question is Apple's CEO, Tim Cook.

But in a recent interview with The New York Times, Tim Cook revealed that he had been a Bitcoin holder for almost three years now. He shared that he first stumbled upon cryptocurrency a few years ago and immediately piqued his interest. After doing his own research on it, he decided to do a little bit of personal investment on crypto.

This new revelation of Tim Cook's new found love have made many wonder if this would be the direction that Apple is going towards in the near future; but Tim Cook made it clear that Apple won't be venturing into the crypto market anytime soon.

This is not financial advice

During his conversation with the host Andrew Ross Sorkin, Cook said

"I think it is reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio, and I am not giving anyone investment advice..."

This statement of "I am not giving anyone investment advice" seems to suggest that Cook is drawing a clear line between his personal funds and the money of the company itself. He seems to be suggesting that his love for Bitcoin is just a personal quirk and he is not hinting at a corporate shift into any crypto asset for his company.

This decision seems oddly peculiar, considering how many tech giants like Tesla has embraced Bitcoin by accepting it for payments and holding $1.5 billion worth in its treasury.

But Apple's CEO Tim Cook is making it clear that Apple isn't planning to follow suit. When asked why, Cook explained

"It's something that we're looking at. It's not something we have immediate plans to do. I would sort of characterize it as there are things that I wouldn't do like our cash balance. I wouldn't invest that in crypto, not because I wouldn't invest my own money in crypto, but because I don't think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto."

So it seems like Apple's significant cash reserve (estimated to be around $200 billion) isn't touching crypto anytime soon.

Apple taking a more conservative stance?

Cook also highlighted that while Apple allows crypto wallet apps on its App store, the company is already looking into other things, though he didn't offer details on what these might entail.

Cook also shared that he has a mild interest in NFTs but dismissed any labels as a "crypto bull."

Cook's responses show that he is taking a conservative approach to cryptocurrency, contrasting with a more aggressive stance of competitors.

Some quoted Tim Cook's decision to one of his philosophies of Apple being a "ripple in the pond", in others words "doing something that other companies could replicate."

Apple had made a name for itself for always being "a step behind others" when it comes to the features and gimmicks that you see on the latest iPhone. But Apple always justified this by saying that it always takes longer to produce something because they only release something when it is perfect.

It seems Apple might be taking a similar approach here. They could still be in the research phase, working to refine a specific feature—whether it’s a crypto payment system or another innovative solution. For now, we’ll have to wait for them to perfect it before they make any official release to the public.

In my view, Apple is unlikely to avoid adopting crypto in the long run, especially considering its growing popularity and mainstream presence. While we may not see a crypto-related feature in the immediate future, it’s almost certain that Apple will eventually integrate something in this space.