Last week Vipps was the first app to launch tap-to-pay support on the iPhone (The Verge) since Apple opened up the necessary APIs with iOS 18.1. Last month Jesse Pollak, DRI for Coinbase Wallet and Base, shared that iOS tap-to-pay support is slated for a 2025 rollout (CoinTelegraph).

In light of these two things, it's instructive to look at two payments tools which have been doing the same job for some time: Apple Cash and Square.

With Apple Cash, any user of Apple's services can have a digital instrument which holds currency. Apple users can then use this "cash" anywhere tap-to-pay is supported, including in exchange with other iPhone users.

With Square, any iPhone can accept tap-to-pay from any supported instrument. Not only from another iPhone, but also from an Android phone, or just a plain plastic debit card.

Provided Coinbase is able to avail themselves of the same capabilities as Apple, Square, and Vipp, anyone who has Coinbase Wallet (cb wallet) installed their iPhone will be able to have a similar experience. With one major differentiator: Coinbase isn't limited to traditional currencies.

This difference illuminates two scenarios:

Scenario 1

Alice sits down at a noodle bar and places their order. Bob presents Alice with an ancient payment terminal that supports tap-to-pay.

Alice double-taps the button on their iPhone to initiate payment. They are presented with a cb wallet interface where USDC is the only option. Alice taps, Coinbase facilitates payment, and the transaction is settled.

A blockspace transaction has taken place, despite Bob having zero exposure to "crypto". From their point of view, Alice's funds are indistinguishable from anyone else's.

Scenario 2

Charlie runs the hotel across the street from Bob's noodle bar. When Alice enters and agrees to rent a room, Charlie presents them with an iPhone to accept payment. In this case however, Charlie also uses Coinbase as their preferred platform for handling hotel payments.

This time when Alice launches cb wallet on their iPhone, they are presented with all of their Ethereum holdings.

Alice selects some coins and initiates a swap. In under a second and for less than a penny, Alice creates the necessary liquidity, and then pays their balance in eth on base, as they say here.

This sort of fluidity can be brain-braking for some babes.

How can a global marketplace function when any given actor in the market can trade in any number of different currencies. How can the center hold in such conditions? Important questions to be sure, but set them aside for a moment.

The upside potential of empowering Alice, Bob, and Charlie in this way is tremendous. Legions of opportunities for creating and exchanging value are open. To anyone who can learn to use cb wallet. The dominant coin within that city can flourish across its population, as anyone using Ethereum is able to hold that coin. Those coins can be swapped into USDC as necessary, or they can be used them as is within the city.

To say nothing of the possibilities of coins which bear no resemblance to what one would think could be used to purchase dinner or a room for the night. That's for another day.

In the coming year both of these scenarios will begin playing out all over the world. What happens from there is anyone's guess.

Or as they say here — probably nothing

ALOHA