Apple CEO “not comfortable” with companies issuing their own money

By Robert Stevens

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said the tech giant would not be producing its own cryptocurrency. In an interview published Thursday, he ended speculation that Apple might join the crypto party, adding that it was wrong for private companies to start creating their own forms of money.

In the interview with Les Echos, Cook condemned projects that take fiscal power away from the state, saying that, “A currency should stay in the hands of countries. I’m not comfortable with the idea of a private group setting up a competing currency. A private company shouldn’t be looking to gain power this way.”

Cook’s comments come as Facebook continues to draw the ire of central banking officials over its ambitious Libra cryptocurrency. Libra is a basket of fiat currencies, including the US dollar, the British Pound and the Euro. If Libra goes mainstream, that means that a group of private companies, amongst them industry giants such as Visa and Uber, would have some measure of control over a significant part of the global monetary supply. Politicians and regulators have raised concerns that Libra will undermine the sovereignty of states to decide monetary policy. 

“Money, like defence, ought to remain in the hands of the state—it is at the heart of its mission. We elect our representatives to assume the responsibilities of government. Companies are not elected, they should not tread this ground,” said Cook.

Cook’s not the only Silicon Valley CEO to shoot down the idea of creating his own cryptocurrency. In September, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told the Sydney Morning Herald that he has no interest in creating a digital currency, adding that Bitcoin—not a commercial alternative—is the internet’s “best bet” for a native currency.

So with Apple and Twitter cryptos out of the picture, what’ll it be, folks: Libra or Bitcoin?

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