Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, told CNN, “We’re watching cryptocurrency.” This statement, along with the CryptoKit for iOS 13, has people wondering if Apple will develop their own digital wallet and/or currency one day.
The Apple CryptoKit lets developers carry out basic cryptographic operations, including key generation and exchange and hashing for digital signatures in their apps. Apple’s Secure Enclave can store public and private keys so iPhone users can use them to pay for goods with an app.
While Apple had no comment on developing a cryptocurrency or a digital wallet, they may follow competitors, Samsung and HTC, both of which are announcing plans for cold storage digital wallets on their Galaxy 10 and Exodus 1 smartphones. Cold storage wallets are offline. Since they are not connected, they are not vulnerable to hacking or other unauthorized access.
Experts have said Apple will most likely concentrate on increasing the number of Apple Pay before rolling out a cryptocurrency. Apple Pay already has a significantly larger market share than it’s closest competitors; Google pay and Samsung Pay, but less than half of Apple users use Apple Pay.
Analysts say it wouldn’t be unusual for Apple to consider developing a digital coin since other tech giants, like Facebook and Square are already working on their own cryptocurrency. Facebook is far ahead of Square; Square is just beginning to hire crypto engineers. It’s not only tech companies developing cryptocurrencies; JP Morgam recently announced JPM Coin, their new fiat digital coin backed by U.S. dollars.
Apple may just be waiting to see what regulatory hurdle Facebook will face in the U.S. and abroad with the launch of their digital coin before making any plans. Libra is also stealing the cryptocurrency spotlight at the moment and Apple may want to wait before making any announcement.
