Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently announced an update that will enable businesses in the US to accept payment seamlessly using Apple Pay and similar platforms through their iPhone. This new feature, named Tap to Pay, will become available later this year.
The news was met with excitement from the crypto community due to speculations that this feature will allow people to pay using cryptocurrency.
Im guessing the orange icon in the photo is to get people excited thinking that was Bitcoin Mentioning digital wallets in the description too – Apple adopting crypto soon?— Aden Priest (@Lets_Shoot) February 9, 2022
By default, Tap to Pay should allow users to pay with cryptocurrency – albeit indirectly – through debit cards tethered to the user’s digital wallet such as the Crypto.com Visa (NYSE:V) Card.
Technically, Apple will make crypto payments available only through partner platforms including Stripe. In detail, this will only become possible this early 2022 using Shopify’s Point-of-Sale (POS) functionality on the iPhone.
Currently, there are hundreds of cryptocurrencies accepted by Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Once Stripe has been integrated into the Tap to Pay feature, users will be able to start using their crypto funds for payment.
Hype aside, Apple itself will not accept cryptocurrency. It will only enable iPhone users to perform crypto transactions using Tap to Pay’s partner platforms. Furthermore, there is no final word from Apple regarding the potential use of cryptocurrency for the new feature.
Apart from Stripe, more payment platforms will become available later this year.