Apple and Google, two of the largest technology companies, are currently on the lookout for crypto professionals who can help develop and shape their blockchain and payment initiatives.

 

In an Apple job posting, the technology giant advertised a position for a Financial Product Strategy Lead in the Apple Pay department.

 

According to the job description, the candidate would be involved in working with the Apple Card and Apple Cash product teams, developing a long-term strategy, assessing new growth opportunities, and managing and coordinating large initiatives that drive growth, with projects including Wallet, Payments, and Commerce.

 

Although the role particularly seeks candidates with experience in payment strategy, the job description also mentions a deep understanding of and experience with P2P payments, stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and blockchain technology.

 

For the Google role, the company is seeking a principal architect in the Web3 field, with the job description requiring a minimum of 10 years of experience in system architecture, distributed systems design, and cloud infrastructure.

 

Qualified candidates are also required to have years of experience architecting, deploying, or operating production-grade Web3 systems, blockchain protocols, institutional digital infrastructure, low-latency blockchain node infrastructure, Zero Knowledge (ZK) infrastructure, and rollup architectures.

 

The job description specifically mentions that qualified candidates should have institutional experience across different Web3 sectors, including Real World Asset (RWA) tokenisation, stablecoin rails, tokenised deposits, and custody architectures within financial environments, among other technical requirements.

 

Compared to the role at Apple, the Google role is much more technically demanding and requires candidates to have an in-depth and solid understanding of the inner workings and architecture of blockchain infrastructure and systems.

 

A Positive Sign for Crypto Adoption

 

The hiring of crypto professionals by two of the biggest non-crypto technology companies in the world is a good sign that highlights how much exploration and adoption the crypto sector, particularly stablecoins, is beginning to receive.

 

Although these companies are not entirely new to the crypto sector, there appears to be a big shift in how big tech companies are beginning to view blockchain and crypto, with many already integrating blockchain technology into their infrastructure.

 

For example, Google launched the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), its permissioned, private distributed ledger that supports cross-border payments, tokenisation, and blockchain use cases for financial institutions. It also launched its own agent payment protocol and Pay.sh, a pay-as-you-go payment layer that enables AI agents to make payments.

 

Hey Wallet, the non-custodial Solana-based social wallet, has announced it will be shutting down all of its products after nearly five years of operation.

 

Hey Wallet, which was launched in 2021 during a Solana hackathon, was founded to make sending cryptocurrencies as simple as using social media by allowing people to transfer SOL directly via Twitter/X handles.

 

Thus, instead of having to copy long wallet addresses, Hey Wallet leverages users' X handles or social usernames. Since it was linked to users' social accounts, Hey Wallet enabled transactions to occur seamlessly in-app through users' social accounts, while allowing users to retain control of their private keys.

 

Although the team did not explicitly state the reason for the closure, Hey Wallet's shutdown comes at a time when several crypto companies, including crypto wallets, have shut down or strategically pivoted into other sectors such as AI.

 

On September 1 of this year, the non-custodial wallet Cosmostation ceased its operations after previously announcing that users should export their private keys and assets before the shutdown, a similar move made by Cyberwallet last month.

 

Other crypto wallets, such as Magic Eden Wallet, have had to repivot and change their operational focus, shifting from being a multi-chain wallet to a Solana-focused wallet.

 

Coinbase and MetaMask have also made similar changes to their wallet operations. For Coinbase, the Base App was rebranded back to Coinbase Wallet, with a focus on multi-chain trading, while MetaMask split from its parent company, Consensys, and continued operating as an independent consumer-focused wallet company.