Just now! Apple’s CEO change, is a Bitcoin hardcore supporter taking over? Stop dreaming, the data tells you a harsh truth.

Apple Inc. announced that Tim Cook will step down in September 2026, with hardware engineering head John Ternus taking over. Once the news broke, the crypto community immediately circulated a rumor: Ternus is a longtime friend of $BTC bull Michael Saylor, and even a low-key Bitcoin believer.

This claim was quickly confirmed as a joke, with the AI-generated icon in the lower right corner revealing its source. But the rapid spread of false information precisely reflects a core market concern: Will Apple’s stance on crypto change as a result? The answer may be disappointing.

Cook publicly stated in 2021 that he personally holds some cryptocurrencies, while Ternus’s 25-year public record has never mentioned $BTC or related terms. The personnel change itself is unlikely to bring substantial impact. Because Apple’s past decade of indifference toward Web3 is not due to personal preference, but an inevitable result of its business model.

Looking back, Apple’s position on Web3 has been clear and firm. In 2022, the App Store explicitly mandated that NFT transactions via iOS apps must use Apple’s in-app purchase system and pay a 30% commission. This policy directly stifled the practicality of most NFT apps on the iOS platform.

In the same year, Coinbase Wallet was forced to shut down some NFT transfer features on iOS after refusing to pay the 30% fee for on-chain gas costs. To this day, wallets like MetaMask and Rainbow still perform worse on iOS than on Android, rooted in this issue.

Apple also remains absent in $BTC asset allocation. In 2021, when companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy included $BTC on their balance sheets, Apple, with over $150 billion in cash, was seen as the next potential giant. But Cook only made personal holdings statements; the company’s balance sheet still has no $BTC.

Looking at the highly anticipated Vision Pro, the crypto community expected it to be an entry point into the metaverse, with demos from Decentraland, The Sandbox, and others. But as of April 2026, there are no native crypto wallets, on-chain games, or DeFi dashboards in visionOS’s App Store. Apple’s review policies have not greenlit such applications.

Connecting these three points, the conclusion is clear: Apple is not hesitant but has actively chosen to stay away after careful calculation. The 30% App Store cut is its core moat, generating hundreds of billions in annual revenue, while Apple Pay’s closed payment loop is a strategic barrier for the next decade. Any integration with Web3’s native features could divert its massive existing cash flow.

Ternus is purely a hardware engineer, with 24 years at Apple focused on the hardware development of iPad, iPhone, AirPods, and Vision Pro. He is a product-driven executive, and his primary tasks upon taking office will be product transition, mass production ramp-up, and AI assistant retention.

The App Store’s commission policy and crypto app review rules fall under the service department and review team, whose reporting system, performance evaluation, and bonus pool have not changed due to the CEO change. Ternus has the authority to adjust, but lacks motivation. The service business contributed over 40% of Apple’s gross profit in fiscal 2025, and touching App Store rules would directly impact earnings.

Future market misinterpretations worth preemptively examining include: First, the idea that Ternus leading Vision Pro hardware means support for the metaverse or NFTs. This is a logical fallacy. Internally, Apple positions Vision Pro as “spatial computing,” deliberately distancing itself from Meta’s “metaverse” narrative.

Second, the belief that the EU’s Digital Markets Act forces Apple to open sideloading, allowing Web3 apps to bypass the App Store. Apple’s actual response is “superficial compliance with fee changes,” introducing a “core technology fee”: in the EU, each app download from new users requires developers to pay Apple €0.5. Web3 apps trying to avoid the 30% cut might just be changing the billing statement.

Third, the expectation that Apple Pay will integrate USDC or other stablecoins for on-chain settlement. This narrative circulated in 2025 but ultimately went nowhere. The reason is that Apple Pay handles over $1.5 trillion in transactions annually, and its partnership with Visa and Mastercard allows Apple to take a 0.15% cut per transaction. Introducing stablecoins to bypass this network would be akin to cutting off its own revenue stream.

What truly warrants attention are external legislative and antitrust pressures. Past decade’s experience shows that substantial progress in crypto is driven more by regulation and market structure changes than by tech giants’ goodwill. Relying on a CEO transition as a strategic hope may be a misjudgment.

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