Rumor: Can you start paying for Apple subscriptions with cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency has had a wild ride this year. From Elon Musk peddling Dogecoin to Bitcoin’s stock value featuring more steep ups & downs than a roller coaster, it seems like Crypto is here to stay . . . or is it? 

The rumor mill started churning when a curious ad popped up regarding Apple subscriptions and cryptocurrency. It seemed like the giant corporation, responsible for iPhones and Macs, might be accepting crypto from an ad a savvy job seeker spotted. That said, there’s no word from Apple yet about whether you can pay for your subscriptions with crypto in the near future. 

Let’s scroll through this story, maybe on an Apple device, together. 

“Business Development Manager – Alternative Payments”

Forbes gave some details into how the rumor started. Apple posted a job listing for a Business Development Manager on its career webpage. 

The job description detailed: “We are looking for a candidate who is comfortable with ambiguity, enjoys thinking about edge cases and asking ‘what is an alternative way of doing this’, and is a strong verbal and written communicator with a high level of integrity, energy, and sense of urgency to ‘make things happen’.” 

They also threw another tidbit in their qualifications list: Apple wants a candidate with at least five years’ experience working with “alternative payment providers, such as digital wallets, BNPL, Fast Payments, cryptocurrency and etc.” Plus, they want someone with “deep knowledge of the alternative payments ecosystem”. 

Partnerships? 

The job description further detailed a leaning towards fostering partnerships regarding alternative payments, including “understanding the complexities of funds flow, roles/responsibilities for settlement, relevant regulations and industry standards and the wide spectrum of FinTech products”. 

While this description doesn’t point to cryptocurrency per se, as the ocean of fintech and financial partnerships & regulations is vast, it could mean that Apple is looking for a specific cryptocurrency to partner with that would allow users to pay for subscriptions with that specific form of crypto. 

While it’s unclear whether this is Apple’s plan, or if Apple has any concrete plans of letting people pay for subscriptions with cryptocurrency, Tesla is the first car company allowing customers to pay with Bitcoin, and Tesla owner Elon Musk has made public statements about backing Dogecoin as well – so it’s not completely out of the left field to speculate Apple’s planning something similar. 

What does this mean? 

Forbes pointed out that if Apple jumps on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, their decision could bolster this burgeoning form of currency’s worth. However, their article on possible cryptocurrency payments for Apple subscriptions also pointed out it could increase demand for energy at a potentially unsustainable rate. 

Forbes also reported that this week, Iran put a temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining, citing crypto entrepreneurs allegedly using cheap electricity to turn huge profits in the crypto world. 

Apple & Crypto

This also isn’t the first development from Apple about its acceptance of cryptocurrency on its subscriptions and elsewhere. Three years ago, Apple updated its guidelines to include how cryptocurrency would be allowed to be used through their subscriptions, devices, and other properties. This change happened as Bitcoin’s worth surged to $20,000 per Bitcoin.  The section read: 

“Cryptocurrencies: Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin, DogeCoin) provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions. Apps facilitating Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”) [etc.] must come from established banks . . . or other approved financial institutions and must comply with all applicable law.”

However, Medium pointed out this wasn’t an endorsement of cryptocurrency – rather, it allowed Apple users to use crypto on its hardware. Apple also forbade the use of crypto-mining in advertisements shown on its hardware according to Medium. That way, ads mining for cryptocurrency wouldn’t drain the batteries of iPhone users on specific webpages. 

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Do you expect to see Apple and other companies allow cryptocurrencies on their subscription sites? If Apple endorses a certain cryptocurrency, what do you think their decision will do to the crypto market? Could Apple possibly be developing its own cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments!