Coinbase has disabled a NFT function on its iOS wallet app due to a dispute over in-app purchase policies.
“You might have noticed you can’t send NFTs on Coinbase Wallet iOS anymore. This is because Apple blocked our last app release until we disabled the feature.”
Apple requires a 30% commission on all NFT sales made through apps listed in the App Store. Apple does not accept cryptocurrency payments, nor does it provide the ability to denominate NFTs in their native cryptocurrencies, making NFT listing and trading very difficult. The policy has outraged many companies in the crypto space and Coinbase is no exception.
“For anyone who understands how NFTs and blockchains work, this is clearly not possible. Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried.
This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols. The biggest impact from this policy change is on iPhone users that own NFTs – if you hold an NFT in a wallet on an iPhone, Apple just made it a lot harder to transfer that NFT to other wallets, or gift it to friends or family.”
Apple in October told startups it must sell NFTs through in-app purchases, aiming to charge 30% commission on any NFTs purchased via apps listed on the App Store. Despite criticism and even antitrust lawsuits, the tech giant hasn’t changed its policy. MetaMask developer and former Apple software engineer Dan Finlay also condemned Apple’s policy:
“Oh I’ll absolutely stand in solidarity here, I assume MM and every other wallet is next. I’m ready to dump the Apple ecosystem. The 30% tax is an abuse of monopoly.”
Apple recently also declared war on Elon Musk’s Twitter as the tech giant threatened to kick Twitter out of its app store, however, the two reconciled and Musk confirmed this was just a misunderstanding.
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