As spotted by the FT, it seems Apple is gently warming to the idea of supporting cryptocurrencies, even before this hire. The App Store listing for the cryptocurrency trading service, Coinbase, shows that it’s now supported in Apple Wallet, although it seems the functionality hasn’t been fully switched on yet.

Big-brand backing

If Apple were to fully embrace cryptocurrencies, it would give the market its strongest endorsement yet.

Tesla’s Elon Musk has been arguably the biggest backer of cryptocurrencies to date, although his erratic support wavered again last month when he announced that the car company would no longer accept bitcoin for vehicle purchases, citing fears over the environmental damage caused by bitcoin mining.

There is speculation that Musk is simply trading his chips from one cryptocurrency to another, however, having made several strong public statements in support of dogecoin.

Support from Apple would surely drive demand for cryptocurrencies, although that is already causing problems in some parts of the world. Iran this week declared a four-month ban on cryptocurrency mining over fears that it was causing surges in demand for electricity. Unlicensed miners in the country are taking advantage of the country’s relatively cheap electricity to run enormous cryptocurrency-mining rigs.