Over recent days, Mallers has shared old videos of Steve Jobs as he gears up to make a big announcement at the Bitcoin 2022 conference.
Rumors are once again swirling about whether Apple is planning to embrace cryptocurrencies as a payment method.
According to Bloomberg, the tech giant is now aiming to reduce its reliance on external partners by building its own payments infrastructure — enabling transactions to be processed without the need for an intermediary.
The report suggests that Apple also wants to bring credit checks, fraud analysis and risk assessments for lending in house — and comes as the company strives to expand Apple Pay.
But what's really piqued the interest of crypto investors is a flurry of tweets by Jack Mallers. He's the CEO of Strike, an app that allows consumers to send and receive Bitcoin instantly.
Over recent days, Mallers has shared old videos of Steve Jobs as he gears up to make a big announcement at the Bitcoin 2022 conference.
The hoodie-wearing entrepreneur also shared a photograph of him raising the middle finger towards Chase Bank while wearing an Apple sports cap.
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Is Apple Going to Accept Crypto?
Of course, many of the rumors surrounding Apple in the past have been unfounded. Every few weeks, excited chatter builds that the iPhone maker plans to announce it holds Bitcoin in reserve, only for the company's financial results to mention nothing of the sort.
Nonetheless, there have been some fairly significant developments of late. Earlier this year, Apple unveiled a new feature called Tap to Pay that will enable U.S. merchants to use iPhones to accept contactless payments. In an announcement, the company said this tool would support "digital wallets" — hinting that it may be compatible with crypto exchanges.
Last November, Apple CEO Tim Cook also revealed that he is a crypto investor, and said he believes "it's reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio."
However, Cook poured water on the idea that Apple would invest some of its considerable cash reserves into Bitcoin.
And back in September 2019, Apple Pay's vice president Jennifer Bailey said the company was "watching cryptocurrency" and firmly believes it has "interesting long-term potential."
Of course, it's highly possible that Mallers' announcement at Bitcoin 2022 will have nothing to do with Apple — perhaps he's simply posting videos of Steve Jobs because he finds him inspirational.
After all, given Apple's determination to become more self-reliant when it comes to offering financial services, it wouldn't make sense for the tech company to establish a partnership with a crypto platform.
