Ever since Microsystem opened the way, bets on which will be the next big one to move dollars into Bitcoin have not been long in coming. While Tesla's entry into this crazy race for BTC is no surprise, it did have a great media impact that had an impact on the increase in the price of the cryptocurrency, now there are rumors that another giant intends to enter the world of decentralized virtual money with another big bomb purchase: I am referring to Apple.
It is already no secret to anyone that most of the companies listed in the S&P500 (Apple at the forefront) generate their "profits" by buying back their own shares, a business methodology that projects to careless investors a sense of solidity, when in reality what they are doing is availing themselves of the uncontrollable quantitative easing (QE) in the U.S. economy. Under this scheme, Apple is simply recycling money in the stock market, leaving aside innovation on the technology side.
But the climate is changing, institutions have realized the impact of BTC and cryptocurrencies on international finance and now more and more high profile companies are entering this world. With Tesla breaking into the BTC race by shelling out $1.5B for the cryptocurrency, it paves the way for other giant companies to follow, seduced by the beauty of the new digital gold. In a market report, Paul Steves, an analyst at Royal Bank of Canada Dominion Securities, estimates that Apple's arrival in the cryptocurrency sector could generate more than USD 40 billion in annual revenue and cause upheaval throughout the industry.
According to Steves, his prediction is supported by the BTC revenue story at payments company Square, which reported more than USD 1.6B$ in BTC revenue in Q3 2020. Square has about 30 million monthly active users, a fraction of Apple's user base, which CEO Tim Cook said was 1.65B devices in January. An investment by Manzana in excess of $2B (just a fraction of its market cap) would generate the company a profit of close to $40B, a move that seems more profitable than its usual share buyback on Wall Street.
It is a fact, already large institutions lost their fear of investing in BTC and other cryptocurrencies, however there is still a lot of uncertainty around the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the world of large corporations. It is a fact that Elon Musk is a genius of marketing and entrepreneurship, he knows how to raise money by selling ideas, he is the richest man in the world for a reason, however his companies do not reflect the success that this tycoon prints on his Twitter account, Tesla so far does not generate products that imply profitability, SpaceX has not materialized anything and Paypal only made profits when the tycoon sold the company.
Could this be a trap set by Musk to lure Manzana into unknown territory? Everything seems to indicate that from Seattle there is a genuine interest in venturing into the world of cryptocurrencies and from what rumors indicate it will be with a considerable investment. If so, this move would take BTC and cryptocurrencies to levels that we imagined would happen in 3 or 4 years, but it seems that their adoption by the world of large corporations will advance the process. Only time will tell.