Analysts at investment bank RBC Capital Markets believe that after launching its own cryptocurrency exchange, Apple will be able to earn more than $ 40 billion a year.
Apple’s market cap is around $ 2.3 trillion. Analysts have compared Apple to payments company Square, which was founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Square bought 4,709 BTC for $ 50 million in October. According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mitch Steves, Square’s quarterly revenues from cryptocurrency trading are about $ 1.6 billion. Square has an active user base of 30 million people.
Apple has a user base of 1.5 billion people, and if we assume that only 200 million of them will make transactions with cryptocurrencies, this will be 6.66 times more than Square. The authors of the report believe that Apple’s potential revenue from digital assets will exceed $ 40 billion a year. Therefore, in the next decade, Apple could become the largest player in the cryptocurrency industry.
Apple will be able to easily cover the research and development costs of a cryptocurrency exchange and easily compete with other marketplaces. Analysts believe Apple could create a “closed system for transferring rights to cryptocurrencies” between customers. It is also possible to develop an open system that uses bitcoin. To save money when converting fiat currencies into crypto assets, analysts suggested using the Strike or Lighting Network service. Apple could address US regulatory compliance and KYC issues. Apple’s cryptocurrency exchange will reduce the likelihood of a Bitcoin ban in the future, analysts said.
“If Apple goes down this path, US citizens will have large amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In this case, it would be inappropriate to prohibit them. In addition, Apple software will provide reliable protection of client funds and information, ”- stated in a report by RBC Capital Markets.
Steves suggested that the tech giant invest in bitcoin to pay for the development of a cryptocurrency exchange out of the rise in its price. For example, if Apple buys BTC for $ 5 billion, the price of this crypto asset will rise by at least 10%. The company will be able to use these funds to finance the initiative without prejudice to other projects.
Recall that a few months ago, the leading strategist of ETF Think Tank Dan Weiskopf also advised Apple to invest in bitcoin, but a much larger amount: from $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion. Weiskopf believes that this would be a reasonable hedge against inflation.
