“Grotesquely overpriced” — Apple’s App Store wants a 30% cut on NFT sales

by · September 25, 2022

Non-fungible token (NFT) app developers and others have rejected a decision by tech giant Apple to impose a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on the marketplace, effectively putting NFT purchases in the same boat as regular in-app purchases .

According to a Friday report by The Information, the smartphone company now allows NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on the marketplace, but imposes the standard commission on in-app purchases of 30% — similar to that charged by Android’s app store Google Play.

However, the commission rate has been criticized by some as being “grotesquely overpriced” – especially compared to standard NFT marketplace commissions, which are around 2.5%.

Technical blogger Florian Mueller called Apple’s “app tax” on NFT sales “abusive but consistent,” while Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that Apple is “crushing” another new technology that “could compete with the grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service.”

The report noted that popular Solana (SOL) NFT market Magic Eden pulled its service from the App Store after learning about the policy, even after Apple offered to lower its commission to 15%, although the app is still listed on the App Store at at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, other NFT marketplaces on the App Store reportedly have limited functionality due to the large commissions. There is also the added challenge of being forced to transact in US dollars instead of cryptocurrency, which could prove risky given the volatility of cryptocurrency markets.

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Others have seen the positive side of Apple’s NFT acceptance. Gabriel Leydon CEO of Web3 game developer Limit Break so the move “can put an ETH wallet in every single mobile game with 1B+ players!” adding that he would “HAPPILY give Apple a 30% cut of a free NFT.”

It’s not the first time companies have fought with Apple over their commissions, Epic Games claims archived legal action after its flagship game Fortnite was removed from the App Store in August 2020 after the publisher tried to sell in-game purchases that went beyond Apple’s fees.

NFT marketplace apps in the app store currently include OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, and crypto trading app marketplaces include Binance, Crypto.com, and Coinbase Wallet.