Analysts are still weighing in on what could happen next after Tesla announced a bold move to invest $1.5 billion in BTC and accept crypto payments.
Fundamental analysis Apple Next?
RBC analyst Mitch Steves believes Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may follow suit and invest $1 billion in Bitcoin. Moreover, the tech giant should start developing Apple-branded exchange and wallet to take full advantage of the 1.5 billion installed user base.
“When we think of the Apple Wallet, there is a clear opportunity in our view to create a buying and selling mechanism for crypto currencies (in addition to standard payment processing – although not necessary). To be clear, we do not believe Apple needs to hold bitcoin as a balance sheet asset (although it would likely help), but rather allow users to buy and sell crypto assets,” the analyst said in a research note.
This way, Apple could benefit and potentially add $50 billion to its business. Steves set a Street-high price target of $171.00 per share on the Cupertino-based company’s stock, which represents a premium of about 25% compared to the stock’s closing price yesterday.
“While the bigger business is likely in the exchange of assets, we think the firm could also fund its own initiative by adding a small amount of Bitcoin (or another crypto asset) to its balance sheet. If we assume that the firm can add $1B to its balance sheet (only ~4-5 days of cash flow) we think the price of the underlying asset would then go up in a substantial manner,” Steves argues.
Similarly, Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz believes other companies are very likely to follow Tesla into BTC.
“Every company should be looking
