Bitcoin sees price surge following Elon Musk endorsement
On Monday a report from RBC Capital Markets stated that Apple is well "positioned" to accept bitcoin as payment on Apple Pay. Originally reluctant to adopt the new digital monetary technology, the company banned cryptocurrency wallets from its App Store in 2014. However, they later reversed the decision and now allows them.
On Wednesday Mastercard Inc announced a plan to offer support for cryptocurrencies on its network in 2021.
This means Mastercard will sit alongside BlackRock Inc, Square and PayPal, who all have recently decided to support cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.
Mastercard said: “Doing this work will create a lot more possibilities for shoppers and merchants, allowing them to transact in an entirely new form of payment.
"This change may open up merchants to new customers who are already flocking to digital assets".
Speaking to Express bitcoin pioneer Max Keiser said: "As money printing by central banks goes parabolic all companies with cash on hand will start moving it into Bitcoin.
"In which order depends on how the board of directors are set up.
"Michael Saylor and Elon Musk control their boards and acted quickly.
"Apple’s board is more bureaucratic, so may take longer to approve.
"I’m hearing Larry Ellison at Oracle will announce a bitcoin position soon.
"Bitcoin payment rails will dominate.
"It might be Apple Pay on top, but it’ll be Bitcoin running underneath."
Today bitcoin payment service BitPay announced its prepaid Mastercard is now compatible with Apple Pay for purchases in stores, in apps, and online.
READ: Bitcoin prices surge to over $10,000 as investors ditch other cryptocurrencies
Speaking to Express.co.uk Ben Gagnon, Director of Mining Operations at Bitfarms, said: "Fortune 500 companies like Apple and Tesla accepting Bitcoin for payment is a major accomplishment.
"Not because Apple or Tesla are likely to sell any more products as a result but because they will lead the way for many more businesses around the world to also accept Bitcoin as payment."
Entrepreneur Michael Saylor speaking to Yahoo Finance predicted there would be a move from traditional treasury assets like cash and bonds into bitcoin, which he has labelled, "digital gold".
Mr Saylor said: "I think there will be an avalanche of thousands of companies that will be coming to bitcoin as they start to see that this is a very high-quality treasury reserve asset, on parity with other reserve assets."
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Apple currently has an estimated $196 billion cash reserves.
After repeated US Federal Reserve monetary stimulus packages, the dollar is depreciating, and many have speculated whether Apple will be the next big firm to purchase bitcoin with its dollars as a digital safe haven from inflation.
In contrast to the greenback, bitcoin has appreciated against the dollar by more than 200 percent per year over the last decade.
Apple Pay could also accept bitcoin transactions on its Apple Pay platform according to the recent report by RBC Capital Markets.
The recent report from RBC said Apple could have an immediate market share in cryptocurrency technology if it allowed users of Apple Pay to buy and sell bitcoin, ethereum, and other alt-coins.
The report stated: “The potential revenue opportunity would be in excess of $40 billion a year, 15 percent incremental top-line opportunity.”
The world's preeminent cryptocurrency saw price rises on initial interest from billionaire investors Paul Tudor Jones, Stan Druckenmiller, and Mexico's Ricardo Salinas Pliego.
Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy was the first publically traded company to add bitcoin to its balance sheet, it currently holds about $3 billion worth of the digital asset.
Then Jack Dorsey of Twitter endorsed bitcoin by accepting it on payments company Square.
However, bitcoin's value really took off after Elon Musk's Tesla announced it had added $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet in early February.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Bobby, team lead at yield farming protocol yAxis said: "Large corporations are looking towards bitcoin both as a hedge against the US dollar and access a range of new financial products.
"We're seeing a number of companies quietly experimenting with crypto portfolios."
Apple Inc. and Oracle were contacted for a response to their position on bitcoin but have yet to reply to requests.
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