Apple’s Tim Cook Says He Owns Cryptocurrency, Calls It ‘Reasonable’

2 min readNov 9, 2021

TOPLINE

Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed Tuesday he personally owns cryptocurrency and has been interested for “a while,” but he shot down rumors that his company is targeting crypto as an investment after prices for bitcoin and ethereum soared to new record highs.

KEY FACTS

Cook said in a recorded interview for The New York Times’ DealBook conference that he views crypto as “reasonable to own” within a “diversified portfolio.”

His investment in crypto is strictly with his own money, Cook added, saying that Apple hasn’t purchased cryptocurrency and he doesn’t believe shareholders are interested in the company doing so.

Bitcoin and ethereum — the two most popular forms of cryptocurrency — both reached new record highs Tuesday morning, with the price of bitcoin rising above $68,000 for the first time and ethereum topping $4,800.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“I’m not giving anyone investment advice by the way,” Cook cautioned.

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW

It’s not clear how much cryptocurrency Cook owns and how much his investment is divided into different coins. Cook’s net worth as of Tuesday was $1.4 billion, according to a Forbes estimate.

KEY BACKGROUND

Cryptocurrency has increasingly become viewed as a mainstream investment option over the past year, with several publicly traded companies adding crypto to their portfolios, despite concerns over volatility and the potential for tighter regulation in the future. Companies like Tesla, Microstrategy and Square are among those that own bitcoin, which has more than quadrupled in price since this time last year. Unfounded rumors have also swirled that Apple, which has a market cap of $2.475 trillion, was planning to purchase bitcoin or had done so. But Cook’s comments reiterate that no such plans are in place, and Apple for now offers little to suggest an interest in crypto. It does, however, allow crypto wallet apps to be downloaded through its App Store.

BIG NUMBER

13%. That’s the percentage of the U.S. population that traded cryptocurrency between July 2020 and July 2021, according to a survey from the University of Chicago.