Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, revealed this Tuesday (9) that he invests in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The statement came during a conversation with Andrew Sorkin during The New York Times DealBook event.
His speech supports the use of Bitcoin as an investment and store of value, a hotly debated topic this year due to the high inflation occurring in various countries, including the US. Today BTC is trading at $66,800.
While Cook claims to use cryptocurrencies as a portfolio diversification, he says Apple isn’t quite ready for that yet. According to him, people would not buy shares of the company to have exposure to cryptocurrencies.
Billionaires seek diversification
The DealBook event, held this Tuesday (9) and Wednesday (10) brings together important figures from across the industry, such as Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, Matthe McConaughey, Hollywood actor and Antony Blinken, secretary of the United States government.
So far, a conversation that has garnered a lot of attention has involved Tim Cook, CEO of the world’s largest company, Apple. When asked if he owned cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ether, Cook replied that he did and that he has been interested in and researching them for some time.
“-Do you have cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin or Ethereum?
- I have them, I think it is reasonable to have them as portfolio diversification”.
Although I have not given more details about what cryptocurrency it has, we can assume that it is Bitcoin. After all, in addition to being the largest cryptocurrency in the world, it has also been used as digital gold, sought after by people looking to escape fiat currency inflation.
Apple is not ready yet
However, Tim Cook revealed that Apple is not yet ready to buy cryptocurrencies to keep them in the box, as MicroStrategy did. The CEO of Apple believes that people would not buy shares of the company to expose themselves to cryptocurrencies.
“I wouldn’t invest in cryptocurrencies [on behalf of Apple], not because I wouldn’t invest my own money, but because I don’t think people would buy Apple shares to get exposure to cryptocurrencies,” said Tim Cook.
In addition, he also stated that the company does not yet have plans to integrate cryptocurrencies into its business, as a form of payment, for example.
However, Tim Cook’s claim that he owns cryptocurrencies bodes well for the market. Against the old lines of Bill Gates, creator of Microsoft, who said he would bet against the currency if there was an easier way to do it.
Another big name at Apple, co-founder Steve Wozniak, also has good impressions on cryptocurrencies. In July of this year he claimed that “Bitcoin is a mathematical miracle.” In addition, he created his own cryptocurrency, Efforce (WOZX), related to energy efficiency.
