Apple's Eyes Are on Crypto

GB Market Commentary 10/11/2021

by Frederick Evans

The Bitcoin price has settled after its recent run to a new all-time high, moving down 2% over the last 24 hours to a price of $66,650 at the time of writing. Analysts are still holding on to extremely bullish November predictions, with this month regularly being a positive one for crypto. Ethereum very similarly has fallen just under 2% over the last 24 hours to $4700. Most altcoins have also settled, with the top movers in the top 50 being Litecoin (up 8.17%) and Loopring (up 51.56%).

The talking point of crypto today is Apple boss Tim Cook revealing that he owns crypto and believes it is "reasonable to own as part of a diversified portfolio." We know that public figures hold significant influence on certain crypto investors, and with Apple's strong base of loyalists, it might sway many to explore the crypto space. However, when asked about accepting crypto for its products or investing as a company, Tim was adamant that this was not an option. He doesn't think that people investing in apple stock want to, by extension, be investing in crypto.

But with other major tech companies like Facebook venturing into the crypto space, we wait to see what Apple's first move might be.

The Spanish Banco de Espania has asked banks to outline any cryptocurrency-related plans they have for the next three years. This includes revealing relationships with digital assets providers and their exposure to the industry and any potential payment services they are looking at providing. It is the first major move in Spain over crypto regulation for years in Spain.

A Zimbabwean official has recently confirmed that the country is gathering views about cryptocurrencies from "knowledgeable people" to create a new approach to their money problem. Zimbabwe has the perfect case for following El Salvador in incorporating bitcoin as legal tender. It has faced hyperinflation and failed at pegging the Zim Dollar to the US dollar back in 2019.