Coinbase says Apple halted its latest app release until it disables NFT feature

Coinbase has become the latest company to raise issues about Apple’s 30% “tax.” Coinbase has said it has removed its non-fungible token (NFT) transfers from its iOS wallet as Apple seeks a cut of 30% from the transfer fees.

Coinbase suspends NFT transfers amid a dispute with Apple

Coinbase has said that it was having issues with Apple and its policies on App Store, which have forced the company to halt NFT transfers from its iOS wallet. According to the App Store policies, Apple is entitled to a $30% share of the gas fee of any NFTs that have been transferred using Coinbase.

It is not the first time companies are raising an issue with Apple’s 30% policy. Epic Games said that the 30% fee was unfair when players buy in-game items on Fortnite, as it amounted to Apple taking a share of the company’s profits.

However, the situation with Coinbase is different. Unlike in the case with gaming companies where Apple takes a 30% fee cut of the profits, Coinbase is not making any profits from the gas fees as it does not receive these fees, nor does it profit from the fees.

In a Twitter thread, Coinbase said, “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.”

The company further said that it was no longer possible for people to send NFTs on the Coinbase Wallet iOS because Apple had blocked the app’s latest release until this feature was disabled.

Coinbase said that the demands made by Apple are the same as the company taking a fee out of each email sent through open internet protocols. This policy will see that users of iOS devices that own NFTs will have difficulty transferring their NFTs to other wallets.

The platform further added that “Apple has introduced new policies to protect their policies to protect their profits at the expense of consumer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.”

Technology firms criticize Apple’s 30% fee

Several technology companies have criticized Apple over its 30% cut. The CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, criticized Apple at the New York Times DealBook Summit saying that the company’s policies on its app marketplace were not good for anyone except the company.

“If you look at all the major competing platforms that have existed – iOS, Android, Windows – Apple stands out. It is the only one where one company can control what apps get on the device. I don’t think it’s sustainable or good,” Zuckerberg said.

Elon Musk also recently criticized Apple. He claimed that Apple was threatening to remove Twitter from the App Store. However, Musk and the CEO of Apple, Tom Cook, quickly resolved the dispute, with Musk receiving assurances from Cook that Apple did not have any plans to take down the social media platform from its app marketplace.