Another thought on cashu, seems like something that a large institution could use and bootstrap their existing trust and reputation. I.e. Apple could just decide to run a mega mint and make every iPhone have a bitcoin wallet that uses ecash, giving instant bitcoin payments between iPhone users (over iMessage, airdrop, NFC anything etc.) whilst allowing them to pay any lightning invoice and avoiding exposing users to anything complex at all. Instant privacy win for users too. The big trust trade off would be minimised too as people aren’t going to hesitate to trust Apple not to perform a mega rug, why would they? nostr:npub12rv5lskctqxxs2c8rf2zlzc7xx3qpvzs3w4etgemauy9thegr43sf485vg nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx
Discussion
Yes, Apple could do many things. But have you ever looked at the regulatory nightmare of just running a business these days? Governments have involved themselves in basic software and hardware decisions.
They aren't just going to sit back while Apple facilitates payments in something that triggers a taxable event in most countries when sold. It would be tax and regulatory hell on a level they probably haven't had to deal with yet.
The users would have to deal with the tax implications too.
A lot of innovation will be stifled by tax law until those laws are removed.
It's subtle, but I think the issue is that most people put far too much focus on companies (usually in the form of blame) rather than governments that control almost every economic decision everyone makes.
Apple could do this, but only if governments are removed from economics. I don't see that happening any time soon.
Yeah, but then apple loses control and money selling your purchasing data. The only way they would do this is if the customers demanded it by leaving the platform for systems that offer privacy.