iOS 10 adds Circle Pay feature, is Apple paving the way for Bitcoin?

Abstract: You know, this is a big step forward for the development of the Bitcoin industry. In 2014, Apple completely blocked all cryptocurrency wallets and currency exchange applications in the App Store, and even forced several apps including Blockchain.info , Coinbase and Coinjar to be removed from the shelves.

On September 13 , as iOS 10 was about to be officially updated and released, the news that the third-party platform Circle Pay had confirmed its entry helped the iPhone 7 , which had been criticized by audiences around the world, to gain some attention.

It is understood that the update of iOS 10 has added the function of Circle Pay , and it will launch a newly designed iMessage service, which is to relax the attitude towards cryptocurrency and allow third-party platforms such as Bitcoin P2P wallet Circle Pay to settle in. This is applicable to all Apple products that support upgrading to iOS 10 .

You know, this is a big step forward for the development of the Bitcoin industry. In 2014, Apple completely blocked all cryptocurrency wallets and currency exchange applications in the App Store, and even forced several apps including Blockchain.info , Coinbase and Coinjar to be removed from the shelves. As Circle CEO Alar said, adding Bitcoin payment services to iMessage will benefit consumers and their payment behavior will be greatly simplified.

The new version of iMessage allows developers to integrate their own applications into chats, which is becoming more and more like the WeChat we use most. In the mobile payment scenario, Circle Pay uses the underlying technology of Bitcoin, blockchain, allowing users to transfer money to each other instantly without any fees. The most important thing is that through Circle Pay , users can directly transfer local currency to the accounts of foreign friends, and the other party can directly withdraw local currency. The principle is that Circle Pay will convert the initial currency into Bitcoin, and the funds will be transferred to the recipient's Bitcoin address through the blockchain. If the other party does not want Bitcoin, it will be converted into local currency again.
Among the numerous digital currencies, Bitcoin is still the most well-known and widely used currency. From the application perspective, it is no longer just the focus of Internet financial companies, but has also entered the sight of traditional banks and even the government. For example, it must be taxed before it can become a legal currency.

The high proportion of non-performing loans has triggered a comprehensive crisis in the Italian banking industry. Taxing Bitcoin has become a breakthrough in solving the imminent banking problem, so the introduction of Bitcoin taxes has been proposed. In the UK, financial regulators have given the green light to blockchain companies and are considering approving several blockchain companies that use Bitcoin technology to apply it to financial services and benefit consumers, or indeed make it easier to regulate business, and challenge the current financial ecosystem. This indicates that the legitimacy of blockchain technology will no longer be in doubt.

Recently, the news that four global banks and brokerage firms, including UBS, Deutsche Bank, Santander Bank and Bank of New York Mellon, have jointly developed a digital virtual currency has surprised many people, and they will also promote this concept to central banks of various countries. The "multi-functional settlement currency" jointly launched by them will use blockchain technology ( the technology used by Bitcoin ), mainly for future cross-border payments and financial transaction settlements within and between banks, and plans to put it into commercial use in early 2018 .

China is no exception. From the "Guidance on the Supervision of China's Banking Information Technology "13th Five-Year Plan" Development Plan (Draft for Comments)" issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission on July 15 this year, which encourages traditional financial institutions to "keep up with the development trend of new technologies and strengthen forward-looking research", to the mention of digital currency in China's future development at the G20 summit, this has undoubtedly directly boosted the domestic Bitcoin price. The price of Bitcoin has soared by about 37% , and it will become the most investment-worthy digital currency.

From this perspective, blockchain is the next hot spot that the financial industry must pay attention to. Every small change made by the government or manufacturers to Bitcoin can be seen as a business opportunity, or even a change in the industry. To some extent, this represents the accelerated integration of Internet financial technology with traditional banking business, forming a boost for traditional banks to overtake others.

First, financial technology based on virtual currency blockchain is the future of the global banking industry. Emerging Internet financial technologies, with their technological and cost advantages, are eroding the market share of traditional banks in payment, credit, and capital market transactions. In order to meet customer needs, traditional banks and other financial institutions are forced to reform and carry out digital financial-related businesses. In China alone, China Merchants Bank has become the third Chinese financial institution to join the R3 blockchain alliance after China Ping An and Hong Kong AIA. This means that under the background of the new economic norm and the boom in virtual currency blockchain technology, large financial institutions are scrambling to make arrangements, and traditional banks have shown their ability to adapt to new trends and have begun to gradually transform themselves in line with the trend of financial technology by using virtual currency in the payment field as a starting point.

Second, using a virtual currency system for settlement can complete transactions instantly , greatly reducing transaction time and simplifying the process. Under the current payment and settlement system , the use of the current sovereign currency payment and settlement system usually requires the central bank settlement system or a third-party institution , which usually leads to delays in transaction time. The biggest advantage of using Bitcoin is that it is almost free to send money, without worrying about sending barriers, limits, costs, and refunds. Money transfers are instantly received, and even cross-bank and cross-border transactions can get rid of the cumbersome document checks of the back-end departments of various banks. The system can automatically identify transaction records on the regional chain , which is especially favored by small and micro businesses and digital service providers, and can also avoid credit card fees and currency conversion fees.

Third, virtual currency has its own transaction record feature, which has a natural advantage in anti-money laundering and anti-illegal transactions, and is relatively safe. Legitimate merchants such as Dunkin Donuts are accepting Bitcoin, and the transaction support of life scene services and goods has given many people who are worried about the low security of online payment channels a way out. Bitcoin is generated based on a specific algorithm through a large amount of calculations. It uses a distributed database composed of many nodes in the entire P2P network to confirm and record all transaction behaviors, and uses cryptographic design to ensure the security of each link in the currency circulation. It has no private key, comes with its own transaction record, and is highly secure, making it easy to gain user trust. Once a transaction is suspected to be problematic , it can be verified in a timely manner.

Perhaps from now on, Bitcoin is one step closer to our daily lives.