Just over 3 years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about the possibility of Apple Pay accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
"It's something that we're looking at," Tim Cook said at the time during an interview at The New York Times 2021 DealBook Online Summit.
Since then cryptocurrency has had its ups and downs. The crypto winter of 2022 saw the market decimated as prominent stablecoins crashed and crypto lending companies went bankrupt. Fast forward to November 2024 and Bitcoin hits new record highs following Donald Trump's electoral win and the belief he's going to loosen restrictions and regulations on the industry.
Now, just weeks away from 2025, there's some movement on Apple's payment service integrating cryptocurrency. Coinbase has integrated Apple Pay into one of its products, making purchasing cryptocurrency faster than ever before.
"Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of Apple Pay for all fiat-to-crypto purchases via Coinbase Onramp, the easiest tool to build onramps into your existing products," Coinbase announced in a statement on their website.
In cryptocurrency, an onramp is a service that helps users convert fiat currency like U.S. dollars from their bank accounts to cryptocurrency in their crypto wallet.
By integrating Apple Pay into its Coinbase Onramp, Coinbase is providing third-party developers a way to integrate Apple Pay into other crypto wallets as well. Basically, Apple Pay isn't just available via Coinbase directly, but any existing product that uses Coinbase Onramp as well.
Using the Coinbase Onramp, developers are able to get around some of the lengthy legal requirements necessary for those who run a financial product as the conversions run through Coinbase.
As TechCrunch points out, Apple has a history of keeping an "arm's length" from cryptocurrency as a whole. In 2019, Apple said it would not allow customers to buy crypto with its then-newly launched Apple Card credit card.
Perhaps, Apple is softening its stance on cryptocurrency a bit in light of recent events. However, it's important to note that while Apple Pay can be used to convert your fiat currency into cryptocurrency via Coinbase Onramp but you still can't sell your crypto and convert it back into cash via Apple pay. At least, not yet. Or perhaps, Apple will continue to keep that "arm's length" away from the cryptocurrency industry.
