Apple chief executive Tim Cook said 'breakthrough' technology is driving breakthrough innovations like a new iPhone built for generative artificial intelligence
Tim Cook personally holds Bitcoin, but Apple doesn't have plans to hold the cryptocurrency on its balance sheet. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Preston Pysh questioned Apple's stance given the incoming government's pro-crypto views
  • Cook previously revealed that he finds Bitcoin 'interesting' and has $BTC holdings
  • One crypto user said he believes Steve Jobs 'would have done it'

Tim Cook, who faced many questions in his early days as the CEO of Apple Inc., given the big shoes he had to fill after Steve Jobs stepped down months before his death in 2011, is now being questioned on why he hasn't made the tech titan hold Bitcoin.

Earlier this month, the tech executive revealed that he had been holding the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap for some time now, but reiterated that his Bitcoin interest didn't involve Apple.

His remarks raised questions on why Apple wouldn't do so, given the growing number of companies that are already holding the digital coin on their balance sheets.

Cook Neglecting His Duties?

Prominent crypto investor and author Preston Pysh took to X early Tuesday to ask Cook why Apple doesn't have "a strategic Bitcoin position" on its balance sheet.

"Honestly, it's looking more and more like a dereliction of leadership and vision," Pysh said. He added that "in the face of what the incoming administration has said and the basic mathematics of the dysfunctional sovereign treasury market," it was surprising that Apple still hasn't made the consideration.

"Steve would have done it," one user said. Earlier last year, technologist Andy Baio revealed that he accidentally discovered a copy of Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin white paper on his Mac computer, reigniting speculation that the digital currency's pseudonymous creator is Steve Jobs.

Baio said he discovered a PDF copy of the white paper "apparently shipped with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018."

However, there has been no evidence linking Jobs to BTC. Also, the true identity of Nakamoto has never been revealed even with recent revelations linking some tech figures to the mysterious programmer.

Bitcoiners Troll Jobs' Successor

Other crypto users and Bitcoiners huddled on Pysh's comments section – many of them said they would laugh when MicroStrategy's balance sheet "exceeds Apple's."

Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy has become the model of companies that have tried the Bitcoin strategy of holding BTC on balance sheets.

Senior product marketing manager at Unchained, Joe Burnett agreed that if Cook doesn't initiate the strategy soon, "I have a feeling someone else will."

One user had a unique perspective of why Cook hasn't made the move yet.

"Hope I'm wrong but egos are big, and blinding, especially to those who didn't build a company from scratch," the user wrote.

Cook told journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook Summit earlier this month that he has personally been holding Bitcoin "for a while," and he found the digital asset "interesting."

He said Apple remains focused on its current business model and has no plans of dipping its toes into crypto's vast seas.

Apple is the world's second most valuable company, trailing only Nvidia, according to CompaniesMarketCap.

In terms of the world's largest assets, AAPL is the third largest, behind NVDA and gold on top, while Bitcoin is in 7th place as of early Tuesday.

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