Apple has announced the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X, along with a bunch of other product updates. One particular thing that could our eye is the ability to send money to your contacts through iMessage.
The feature works with money like it does with attachments — simply assign an amount you want to send, and let Apple’s servers do all the work in the background. The iPhone maker, after all, already has your credit card details so it’s a snap for them to conduct this transaction.
Which make us thinking – is Apple working on a cryptocurrency of its own? Or at least some form of digital currency which may not be decentralized — since Cupertino folks are all about centralizing their stuff.
New Wallet option – Apple PayCash
This is the new option added to the Apple Wallet app/service, which iPhone users rely on to store all of their debit and credit cards, as well as loyalty cards from the likes of Starbucks, and even boarding passes. Adding to that is the Apple PayCash that is used to store the money your friends have sent to you.
You may think of it as a gift card money, but Apple may have bigger plans for it. Why in the world it wouldn’t have a payment service of its own? There’s PayPal, Alibaba’s AliPay, and many others. Even better, it may opt to launch its very own digital currency, one that would support money transfers through iMessage, loyalty programs and for paying other stuff.
When you think about it, both elements needed to run a “digital currency business” are in place — a money transfer service and a wallet. Plus, there are 1 billion active iPhone users ready to accept pretty much whatever Apple throws at their way. And let’s not forget an array of Apple products and services — as well as those offered by its partners — that could be available for purchase using Apple’s own cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, unlike other cryptocurrencies, you wouldn’t be able to lose your private key — your biometric features would be the key to accessing your money. That would either be your fingerprint or face with the new iPhone X, which would also be used to authorize all transactions making for a that much more secure environment.
See where this is heading? It is my belief that we may see the Cupertino-based company launching the…
iCoin
That’s how I call it, but that is also the name of one Bitcoin exchange. Nonetheless, Apple may simply use a portion of its cash to acquire the name or the entire company.
As noted, this iCoin could be used for buying any Apple hardware, service or any other product currently sold in Apple Stores. And if it catches on, perhaps we see the iPhone maker opening up the API to let third-parties add new payment option to their stores.
Apple is too centralized for a cryptocurrency?
This is the main argument against Apple’s move to enter this market; it likes to keep things under control, and today’s cryptocurrencies work in an opposite way. They are decentralized and open-source, as opposed to pretty much everything Apple is doing. It does provides a set of APIs for developers, but even that is used to make their products better. After all, why would anyone buy an iPhone if it couldn’t run apps.
Perhaps Apple creates a pseudo cryptocurrency, one that would solely rely on its own servers. The underlying infrastructure would be a permissioned ledger of sorts, where the blockchain would be shared exclusively among trusted parties, with all others getting only select blocks that are related to their transactions.
Limited reach?
Let’s say Apple takes this route, skeptics will say that any proprietary cryptocurrency will have limited reach. After all, what happens to those not using the iPhone? Will they still be able to buy and pay for stuff with the iCoin?
When you’re Apple, you don’t have to sweat over it. You have 1 billion active iPhone users who — in most cases — would jump on your product no matter what it is. Later on Apple may open up the system to other users, like it did with iTunes. Or not; even with a fraction of its user base it can run the most successful digital currency in the world.
Let me remind you that as of May 2017, Apple’s cash pile is as big as the GDP of Finland and Jamaica, combined. That’s a lot of money and lot of power, like the power to launch its own money.
Sounds like a plan, don’t you think?