Apple CEO Tim Cook: I hoarded Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Author: Divine Grace

The personal wallets of tech giants hold the barometer of the cryptocurrency market.

Under the spotlight of the New York Times DealBook Summit, Tim Cook casually remarked, "Yes, I hold cryptocurrency." The CEO of a technology empire valued at $2.7 trillion leaned back in his chair and added, "I think it’s reasonable to have it as part of a diversified portfolio." A moment of suppressed gasps erupted from the audience—Apple's helmsman had personally endorsed crypto assets.

01 Three years of planning, the big shot's crypto ledger

When the host pressed the question "Do you hold Bitcoin or Ethereum?", Cook's response was without hesitation. This tech leader, known for his caution, publicly admitted for the first time: Bitcoin and Ethereum have long been included in his personal investment portfolio. More importantly, he revealed that he had been "studying for quite a while" and even confirmed to the media that he had held Bitcoin for as long as three years, as early as 2024.

"I find it very interesting." Cook repeatedly emphasized this sentence while unconsciously tapping his fingers on the table. This interest is by no means a fleeting whim. According to insiders' analysis, Cook's timing for allocating cryptocurrency coincides precisely with the market low before the 2024 Bitcoin halving cycle — the timing of the tech leader's entry is thought-provokingly precise.

02 The copper wall and iron wall of Apple and the gap of personal wallets

What is intriguing is that Cook immediately clarified the boundaries: "This is not providing investment advice to anyone." He almost instantly poured cold water on it: Apple, with a cash reserve of 200 billion dollars, will not invest a single penny in Bitcoin; nor will it accept users to purchase iPhones or Macs with cryptocurrency.

This division is a reflection of the survival wisdom of tech giants. When the UK government mandated Apple to implant a backdoor in iCloud under the Investigatory Powers Act, the Cook team ultimately chose to compromise—revoking end-to-end encryption for UK users. In the gap between national security and user privacy, companies must remain resilient.

03 Diversified Allocation: The Hedge Logic of Billionaires

"It makes sense as part of a diversified portfolio" - Cook's seemingly plain statement carries significant weight in the eyes of Wall Street analysts. When pressed about the rationale behind the allocation, he unusually approached it from a personal finance perspective: "I've been interested in crypto for a while and have been doing research."

This is precisely the thinking paradigm of top investors:

• Core assets (Bitcoin + Ethereum) account for the main holdings, corresponding to a trillion-dollar market consensus.
• Avoid touching altcoins, to prevent non-systemic risks (in stark contrast to the recent plunge of currencies like FIL)
• Strictly differentiate personal finance from corporate strategy to avoid the impact of volatility on shareholder equity.

"People do not buy Apple stock just to have exposure to the risks of cryptocurrency." Cook's statement completely closed the door for Apple to embrace cryptocurrency.

04 Radical Conservatism: Apple's Crypto Underbelly

Despite Cook building high walls in public, the crypto tentacles of the Apple ecosystem are quietly extending:

• App Store allows listing of cryptocurrency wallets and DeFi applications, establishing access thresholds.
• Safari browser integrates Web 3.0 protocol, supporting decentralized identity system
• The chip team develops low-power secure components to pave the way for hardware wallets.

When Tesla boldly accepted Bitcoin payments, Apple chose to advance within a compliant framework. This strategy of "not actively engaging, not refusing, and setting boundaries" instead creates a more sustainable ecological penetration.

05 Consensus of Tech Leaders: Crypto Assets Become the New Gold

Cook is by no means an isolated case. From Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's investment in the Lightning Network to Zuckerberg's Diem project, which he has put on hold but not abandoned, Silicon Valley elites have long voted with real money. As news spreads in the market that MicroStrategy holds 214,000 bitcoins and Tesla has not liquidated its holdings, the allocation of tech capital to digital assets has become a surging trend.

"I am not providing financial advice," Cook emphasized again at the end of the summit, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, "but diversification has always been an interesting concept." As he stood up to leave, the Bitcoin candlestick chart on the big screen suddenly surged by 3%—the market interpreted the tech pope's "personal interest" in the most straightforward way.

Looking back at Cook's silent holding of Bitcoin over the past three years, it resembles the philosophy of Apple product design: the core functionality is already in place before users are aware of it. When this CEO, who controls the world's largest tech cash reserve, incorporates cryptocurrency into his personal asset allocation, the dimensional barrier between traditional finance and the crypto world is silently dissolving.

True disruptors never need to shout their cause. Just as the iPhone replaced Nokia not because of the keyboard vs. touchscreen debate, but due to the iteration of ecological niches — when the personal wallets of tech oligarchs are opened by cryptocurrencies, the countdown to the collapse of the old order has already begun to tick in the background.

Do you think Cook's holdings will drive more tech executives to allocate cryptocurrency?