The chief executive of one of the world’s largest tech companies has revealed that he owns crypto assets.
In an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times DealBook Online Summit, Apple CEO Tim Cook says he owns some crypto as part of his investment portfolio.
Sorkin asked the CEO if he owned any Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), or if he would “play around” in the crypto space.
Cook responded,
“I do. Yeah, I think it’s reasonable to own it as a part of a diversified portfolio.
And I’m not giving anybody any investment advice, by the way.”
Cook went on to say that he’s been personally interested in crypto technology “for a while” and that he “thinks it’s interesting.” Cook clarified that he was talking about his own personal investments, not Apple’s.
When asked if the tech giant might also allocate corporate funds into crypto investments, Cook ruled out the possibility.
“I wouldn’t go invest in crypto. Not because I wouldn’t invest my own money, but because I don’t think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto.”
Apple’s popular Wallet app currently supports a variety of traditional payment methods and peer-to-peer payments, but not crypto.
In May 2021, Apple posted a job opening titled “Business Development Manager – Alternative Payments” for a position to work closely with the Apple Wallet team. The job post, which makes no explicit mention of cryptocurrencies, is no longer active.
Despite the growing strength of the crypto markets, Cook said on Tuesday that Apple has no “immediate plans” to look at cryptocurrency technology.
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