It’s the fall of 2020, and the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system contains a bold new feature: blockchain tokens that consumers can use to purchase news articles. Meanwhile, the company has worked behind the scenes with news outlets like Fortune and the New York Times to ensure they can accept the Apple tokens as a seamless form of payment. The service quickly catches on and many Apple users buy additional tokens, providing a boost for the news industry and a victory for blockchain advocates who have long touted the technology as a superior way to pay.

This is just speculation, of course. I have no idea what Apple has planned for iOS 14 or if the company is serious about building a blockchain. But the idea is not far-fetched. It’s come up in conversation I’ve had with consultants and entrepreneurs, who all believe it’s going to take a tech giant like Apple to make blockchain payments work at scale.

Previous attempts to bring blockchain to media, including the ill-starred Civil, have fallen short because they involved creating new blockchain-first media outlets while also persuading users to give it a try. The result was confusion all around.

Apple would be different. The company could leverage its existing relationship with media outlets to install a blockchain system behind the scenes, and kick-start adoption by providing free tokens to its vast user base. After that, users could buy more token in the regular way through the Apple Store. All transactions would be easily tracked on a distributed ledger—either an existing Ethereum-based one, or a new blockchain developed by Apple.