[Thread] Coinbase says Apple “blocked our last” Wallet iOS app release until the exchange disabled sending NFTs, claiming Apple wanted a 30% cut from gas fees

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. 🧵

@coinbasewallet 2022-12-02

Context & Ripple Effects

Coinbase had previously criticized Apple's App Store restrictions as limiting access to decentralized-finance apps; the Wallet dispute is a more specific instance of that longer-running conflict over what crypto functions can appear on iOS. Coinbase's earlier criticism of DeFi restrictions provides the backdrop.

The reported pressure is not isolated to Coinbase: NFT startups had already limited iOS functionality amid Apple's commission demands, while Telegram removed paid posts on iOS after a similar dispute over creator monetization. Telegram's removal of paid posts shows the issue extends beyond crypto.

First-order effects

Coinbase Wallet's iOS users lose the ability to send NFTs while Coinbase keeps the feature disabled to secure an app release, according to Coinbase.
Apple's App Store review process becomes the immediate gatekeeper for Coinbase's mobile NFT functionality; Coinbase alleges the gatekeeper sought a 30% share of gas fees.

Second-order effects

NFT wallet and marketplace developers targeting iOS face added pressure to remove or limit transaction features rather than risk delayed releases, reinforcing the constraints already reported by NFT startups.
Developers with paid digital interactions, from crypto products to creator platforms, have a stronger incentive to separate iOS functionality from services offered elsewhere when App Store commission rules apply.

Third-order effects

If these enforcement episodes persist, iOS product design will increasingly be shaped by platform-payment compatibility, with transactional features pared back or shifted outside the app rather than delivered uniformly across devices.
The dispute points to a broader bargaining imbalance in which platform operators set the commercial terms for access to mobile users, while app developers must decide whether that distribution is worth reduced functionality.

The trend: App-store payment rules are becoming a product-design constraint for crypto, NFT, and creator services that monetize or facilitate transactions on iOS.

Discussion

@coinbasewallet @coinbasewallet on x
Apple's claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee.
@coinbasewallet @coinbasewallet on x
This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols.
@coinbasewallet @coinbasewallet on x
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.
@brian_armstrong Brian Armstrong on x
Good example of the kinds of discussions we have with Apple on a monthly basis, to deal with their app store monopoly. It's gotten pretty absurd at times. https://twitter.com/...
@coinbasewallet @coinbasewallet on x
Simply put, Apple has introduced new policies to protect their profits at the expense of consumer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.
@coinbasewallet @coinbasewallet on x
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.
@mindaoyang @mindaoyang on x
So, the Apple protocol is the mother of all protocols https://twitter.com/...
@tomdwan Tom Dwan on x
Regulation could help crypto. But it's a new tech that's fundamentally different in a lot of ways. The more existing power structures fight against new tech, usually it goes bad for everyone. If true, this is rly dumb by Apple. https://twitter.com/...
@aeyakovenko @aeyakovenko on x
these viral @solanamobile marketing campaigns are really getting out of hand https://twitter.com/...
@prathgodbole Prathamesh Godbole on x
Any sufficiently large company becomes a bureaucracy where nothing makes sense anymore, and no one cares. https://twitter.com/...
@coinbureau @coinbureau on x
Imagine being the most valuable company in the world but not hiring someone who understands how a blockchain works 🤷‍♂️ https://twitter.com/...
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
alhamdulillah! tim apple has joined our glorious struggle against crypto https://twitter.com/...
@jespow Jesse Powell on x
If Apple thinks they deserve 30% of #ETH gas fees, for consistency, they should collect on: 🛰️ my ISP bill because I'm paying for bandwidth to transmit & receive data 🔌 my electricity bill to power my devices 🥩 my food bill because I need energy to power my fingers to make taps h…
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
more folks coming out of the woodwork to ding apple on 30 percent+app store stuff, post elon flare-up... even if tim and elon made peace, musk still poked the bear and others are happy to pitch in (though this coinbase one seems less like going to immediate war) https://t.co/S9nM…
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Sooooooooo wouldn't it have made more sense not to release the update, so that the feature would continue to work? Also, does this not work just as well in MobileSafari? https://twitter.com/...
@danfinlay @danfinlay on x
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. @tim_cook has donned the Big Brother screen. https://twitter.com/...
@mayazi @mayazi on x
Apple's overreach of trying to tax crypto transactions is uncovering how broad their definition of OS jurisdiction they think they have. According to Apple any financial tx down through an OS is a Apple taxable event. Now imagine they try to apply that to Zelle or Venmo... https:…
@chriscantino @chriscantino on x
Did not have Apple vs. public goods on my 2022 bingo card https://twitter.com/...
@jjcycles @jjcycles on x
Apple casually using their monopoly position here. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@dabit3 Nader on x
I wonder if the gas cost is being subsidized by the app on a relayer if they'd still do this? i.e. when I post something to Twitter, Twitter is incurring a small server charge that Apple does not get a cut of. If I transact without any gas on the client, it feels the same. https:…
@stanikulechov @stanikulechov on x
Apple wants to be an overlord on blockchain transactions - very against public goods and the future we all want to live in https://twitter.com/...
@scott_lew_is Scott on x
it is nice for coinbase to air this publicly. most startups are too small to talk about it. https://twitter.com/...
@neerajka Neeraj K. Agrawal on x
i'm waiting for the day apple starts to demand 30% of all venmo payments https://t.co/CDpWUcjJUy
@0xfoobar @0xfoobar on x
apple is a pox on innovation. launching a mobile app should be as open and easy and censorship-resistant as creating a website. we must decentralize all layers of the hardware stack, software alone won't suffice https://twitter.com/...
@loopifyyy @loopifyyy on x
I'm not even joking. https://twitter.com/...
@film_girl @film_girl on x
This is obscene and should be illegal. Charging a 30% tax on purchases that don't leverage the App Store in any way is absurd. https://twitter.com/...
@deitaone @deitaone on x
COINBASE WALLET - APPLE'S CLAIM IS THAT GAS FEES REQUIRED TO SEND NFTS NEED TO BE PAID THROUGH IN-APP SYSTEM, SO APPLE CAN COLLECT 30% OF GAS FEE
@loopifyyy @loopifyyy on x
Apple blocked the latest Coinbase wallet update because they wanted “30% of the gas fees” that is used to transfer NFTs. Which is impossible.
@benjitaylor Benji Taylor on x
If this is true, this one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, and I say that as an Apple fan. https://twitter.com/...
@kgeorgee @kgeorgee on x
THIS IS HILARIOUS apple needs to take the 30% from Amazon app and all other apps for shopping too then yeah? Oh wait... @TimSweeneyEpic was right to challenge them before. Apple are crooks in white shirts https://twitter.com/...
@gakonst Georgios Konstantopoulos on x
note that any gas fee denominated rent is effectively selling blockspace, sounds like a valuable biz to be in https://twitter.com/...
@adamscochran Adam Cochran on x
Lmfao what? Apple, that is not how this works... It's not even technologically possible. How can a company that is so focused on getting every experience and tech advancement polished, repeatedly have horrible takes on blockchain? https://twitter.com/...
@219_eth @219_eth on x
why are you still supporting a collaborator like @apple? https://twitter.com/...
@xamanap @xamanap on x
Apple charging 30% of gas fees be like https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@panzer @panzer on x
Now that's funny https://twitter.com/...
@punk6529 @punk6529 on x
JFC. If Congress wants to do something useful about tech power, prying open the app stores would actually be useful https://twitter.com/...
@realsidhujag Jagdeep Sidhu on x
Time to cancel apple? https://twitter.com/...
@cryptowendyo @cryptowendyo on x
We need our own decentralized phone and Dapps It's only going to get worse with Apple and G00gle https://twitter.com/...
@stockmktnewz @stockmktnewz on x
COINBASE: TALKS WITH APPLE MONTHLY ABOUT ‘APP STORE MONOPOLY’ $COIN $AAPL
@functi0nzer0 Laurence on x
Tim Apple what are you doing lmfao https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
Sorry what lmao https://twitter.com/...
@lopp Jameson Lopp on x
Smells like desperation. How much of Apple's revenue is based upon their middleman cut of payments? https://t.co/DM0hrsjVWU

Chronicles