Tim Cook holds cryptocurrency, but Apple is interested in 'other things'

Apple CEO Tim Cook (File image)

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that he had bought cryptocurrencies as a part of his portfolio but denied Apple’s intentions to join the cryptocurrency club.

“I think it’s reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio,” Cook said at the New York Times DealBook Online Summit, adding that he was not giving any investment advice.

Cook said that he had been interested in cryptocurrency for a while and had also done his own research on it.

Furthermore, the CEO clarified that Apple did not hold any cryptocurrency and had no plans to do so.

“There are other things that we are definitely looking at,” he added.

In August 2020, MicroStrategy invested $425 million dollars into Bitcoin. It currently holds 114,042 BTC, according to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide.

Several other publicly listed companies including Tesla and Square Inc have declared their cryptocurrency holdings.

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk had earlier said that the electric car maker will “most likely” resume accepting Bitcoin as payments after it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy used to mine the currency.

Musk had also revealed he personally owned bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin, apart from bitcoin that Tesla and SpaceX owned.

“I don’t think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto,” Cook said at the Summit denying any immediate plans to invest the company’s $20 billion cash in the digital currency.

Meanwhile, the world cryptocurrency market touched $3 trillion for the first time, according to calculations Monday, as mainstream investors increasingly jump on board. The value has reached $3.007 trillion (2.6 trillion euros), said CoinGecko, which tracks prices of more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record-high $66,000 last month after taking another step towards mainstream status. It surged back above $66,000 on Monday close to its all-time peak after a five percent jump.