More and more companies are integrating blockchain and crypto payment options into their services. These days, many service providers use apps, which means crypto has slowly but surely made its way into the Apple ecosystem. But Apple is not happy with this at all and has therefore banned app providers from integrating crypto into iOS apps. This has led to a new lawsuit.
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Apple bans crypto in apps
Four American consumers have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, according to a legal document filed in a California district court. They believe that Apple has no right to ban service providers from integrating crypto and blockchain into their mobile applications. Apple forces app manufacturers to comply with these strict requirements, otherwise they will no longer be allowed to offer their apps at all.
More and more services are using crypto. For example, various crypto exchanges have debit cards that allow you to pay with crypto rather than fiat currency. Various payment services have now integrated such options into their apps.
PayPal, for example, allows payments with cryptocurrencies and even has its own stablecoin, PYUSD. PayPal subsidiary Venmo has similar features and also supports PYUSD. Cash App from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Block allows you to Also invest in Bitcoin (BTC) and pay with it.
iOS apps from such companies are therefore not allowed to have these options. Prosecutors are not happy with this, as they have to pay much higher commissions for carrying out transactions. Apple also has its own payment service, Apple Pay. This also includes peer-to-peer (P2P) payment options.
Apple has long been strict about cryptocurrencies in the App Store
This is not the first time that Apple has caused controversy for its strict requirements. In June, they threatened to remove the young social media app Damus because it also had Bitcoin integrations. Last year, MetaMask threatened to remove its app from Apple’s AppStore because Apple charges high commissions for in-app purchases.
Ironically, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is actually an avid Bitcoiner, and Apple has even made subtle nods to Bitcoin in macOS software in the past. So maybe Apple isn’t quite so anti-crypto.