Tim Cook: "Personally Holding Cryptocurrency... No Investment at Apple Level"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that he has personally invested in cryptocurrency. However, he also stated that there are no plans for Apple as a company to invest in cryptocurrency or launch related services in the near future.

On the 9th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Bloomberg reported that in a pre-recorded interview released at the New York Times (NYT) DealBook Online Summit, CEO Cook was asked whether he holds cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. He responded, "Yes. I think holding (cryptocurrency) is reasonable from the perspective of portfolio diversification."

Cook added, "I have been interested in digital currencies for some time and have researched related materials."

However, he drew a line regarding the possibility of using Apple’s cash assets to invest in cryptocurrency.

He said, "Investors would not buy Apple stock to be exposed to the risks of cryptocurrency investment," indicating that there will be no direct cryptocurrency investment at the Apple corporate level.

Additionally, Cook stated that there are no plans to support cryptocurrency in Apple’s payment service, Apple Pay, in the near future.

Nonetheless, Cook added, "However, we are looking into other areas of cryptocurrency." He did not specify what particular products or services are being considered.

Along with this, Cook expressed interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which have recently attracted significant market attention.

Cook said that although it will take a long time for NFTs to become commercialized in the market, he still finds NFTs "interesting."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.