While Apple is not actively taking steps to participate in the rather volatile crypto sector, other crypto players are trying to rope-in the iPhone-maker in their operations. In a fresh development, Circle, the creator of USD Coin has added the support for Apple Pay. The aim of this integration is to bridge the gap between traditional and crypto payment systems. This step will enable people to ‘buy crypto via Apple Pay on their preferred exchanges’.
Circle believes that this integration with Apple Pay will mark an essential pivot to digital payments in retail settings, powered by cryptocurrency.
“Apple Pay is also a safer and faster way to pay using the Safari browser and in apps because customers will no longer have to create an account or fill out lengthy forms. Apple Pay and Circle’s Payments solution make it possible for crypto-native businesses to accept payments from customers who don’t use crypto at all,” Circle said in an official blog post.
NFT marketplaces, crypto gaming, exchanges, wallets, and cross-border remittance providers, with this Circle-Apple Pay link, can help their businesses grow.
Undeniably, this support will open several Apple Pay users to experiment with the cryptocurrencies.
During Apple’s Q1 earnings call company CEO Tim Cook had revealed that Apple Pay is among the most used digital wallets, competing neck and neck with PayPal in the US.
“Apple Pay via Circle makes it easy for your customers to pay online and in apps using their iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and other supported devices,” the blog added.
Presently, Apple Pay does not support cryptocurrency transactions. iPhones and other Apple products are not being sold for crypto gains and Apple App Store is also resistant against supporting crypto apps.
Cook has however claimed that the crypto space is definitely something that the company is looking at and analysing.
In September 2019, Jennifer Bailey, the Vice President of Apple Pay had reportedly revealed that the iPhone-maker is being attentive towards the crypto space and sees cryptocurrencies as assets with “interesting long-term potential”.