Apple recently announced a new feature called Tap to Pay that is scheduled to be implemented in the upcoming year. Merchants who have an iPhone will be able to accept contactless payments through an NFC chip connection offered by the new function to them. Apple will be the first developer to add support for the feature, which serves as an extension to the popular digital wallet service.
In this way, your Apple Pay can be used to process payments with any physical or virtual card you have connected to your Apple Pay. It basically means that you are able to use Tap to Pay for cryptocurrency transactions as long as Apple does not set a direct barrier to it. This would apply to users of a Coinbase Card, Crypto.com Visa Card or other similar payment cards so long as Apple does not block it outright.
Coinbase had integrated Apple Pay and Google Pay into its platform back in August 2021, allowing users to purchase crypto assets on its platform through these two convenient payment methods. The news was first reported by Cointelegraph, who said the new initiative would enable customers in the United States to buy crypto with bank-issued debit or credit cards via Apple Pay, the mainstream payment platform.
Interestingly, Stripe, who had also promised to return to the crypto market in 2022, will be the company that will offer Tap to Pay on iPhone in the first instance.
We just introduced Tap to Pay on iPhone, a great way for millions of small businesses to accept contactless payments right from their iPhone. It’s easy, secure, and will be coming out later this year. https://t.co/w6P6oS7grm
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 9, 2022
Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook was quoted as saying that he owned cryptocurrency. In an interview with CNBC, Cook admitted that he owns bitcoins as “part of a diverse portfolio.” Cook said he has been eyeing bitcoins for some time.
