American multinational technology company Apple is recruiting for a new business development manager with a specialisation in alternative payments, signalling that the global software giant is gravitating toward digital assets.
A new job post for “Business Development Manager – Alternative Payments” was posted on the careers page on Apple’s website on Tuesday. The job requires the new hire to be responsible for leading partnerships in alternative payments and defining new streams of commercialisation.
Apple is looking for a business professional with more than a decade of experience, including a five-year track record of working with alternative payment providers, such as cryptocurrency, BNPL, digital wallets, Fast Payments, and others.
While the job posting does sound compelling on the surface, it is important to note that Apple is not very heavily involved in the cryptocurrency market and has yet to signal definitive plans for expanding into the industry. What is interesting is that Coinbase, an American company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform, recently took over TikTok as the most downloaded mobile application on Apple’s App Store.
In recent months, there has been rampant and widespread speculation about Apple entering the digital currency space, as investors watched Tesla add billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin (BTC) into its strategic reserves. According to Paul Steves, an analyst with Royal Bank of Canada Dominion Securities, besides simply include BTC to its balance sheet, Apple could be in a position to permanently disrupt the structure of the growing industry.
As Steves stated back in February, in the situation where Apple decides to enter into the crypto exchange business, the firm could immediately gain market share and disrupt the industry. The iPhone makers could unlock a multi-billion dollar opportunity with nothing more than a few clicks.
With a market capitalisation of $2.1 trillion, Apple continues to be the largest company traded in the United States. During its most recent earnings, the company owned $192.8 billion in cash on hand quarter, a reduction from $207.06 billion during the previous quarter.
