Tim Cook Owns Cryptocurrency, But Says Apple Has No Immediate Plans of Crypto Integration

According to Cook, it is reasonable to invest in crypto assets as part of keeping one's investment portfolio diversified.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 10 November 2021 11:48 IST

Tim Cook Owns Cryptocurrency, But Says Apple Has No Immediate Plans of Crypto Integration

Tim Cook revealed that he personally owns cryptocurrency

Highlights

Tim Cook holds cryptocurrencies and personally finds them interesting
Apple has no plans in the pipeline to accept crypto payments, Cook said
Cook made his first statements on crypto assets at an online conference

Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed interest in the crypto space, revealing that he is actually a crypto investor himself. The 61-year-old tech mogul was speaking at the New York Times DealBook online conference when he voiced his opinions on cryptocurrencies. While maintaining that Apple has nothing to do with his personal outlook, Cook said that he has been interested in and researching on the crypto space for some time now. The Apple chief also said that the company has no immediate plans on crypto-integration as of now.

Unlike Elon Musk's Tesla, Apple will not be using its treasury to buy cryptocurrencies, Cook said while dismissing the idea of accepting crypto coins via Apple Pay anytime soon.

“It's something we are looking at, it's not something we have immediate plans to do. I would characterise it as there are things that I would not do like our cash balance,” Cook said. “I don't think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto. So if they want to do that, they can you know, invest directly in crypto through other means,” he added.

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A video clip of the Apple chief's interview with NYT journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin has been making the rounds on Twitter.

Tim Cook of Apple reveals that he has personally invested in cryptocurrency. “I think it's reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio,” he said at the #DealBook Online Summit. https://t.co/xpahdlKfOe pic.twitter.com/CQpQgShu0x
— DealBook (@dealbook) November 9, 2021

The Apple boss said it is reasonable to own cryptocurrency as part of a diversified portfolio. This is the first time that Cook has spoken on cryptocurrencies in public.

Meanwhile, Apple's work around cryptocurrencies has been in the news since 2019.

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In September 2019, Jennifer Bailey, the Vice President of Apple Pay had revealed that the iPhone-maker is being attentive towards the crypto space and sees cryptocurrencies as assets with “interesting long term potential”, as per a CNN report.

Presently, Apple does not offer any cryptocurrency-based products and services nor does it accept crypto payments.

Crypto wallet apps are available on its App Store, where crypto-mining apps are prohibited for now.

On an international level, the crypto market is witnessing a rapid expansion. Earlier this week, the overall valuation of the crypto market reached $3.007 trillion (roughly Rs. 2,22,79,296 crore), as per market research tracker, CoinGecko.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Tim Cook, Apple, Cryptocurrency, Tesla, Elon Musk

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More