Coinbase says Apple demands 30% cut in NFT gas fees before wallet update
Coinbase said on Thursday that Apple is blocking the latest update to its digital wallet on iOS until the crypto exchange either shares 30% of gas fees from NFT sales or disables the ability to send them.
Coinbase claims that Apple wants gas taxes to be paid through a system that takes a 30% cut of all in-app purchases for applications on Apple devices. But a tweet from the Coinbase Wallet Twitter account claims that this isn’t even possible, compared to Apple wanting to take a cut for every email sent over the internet. Apple typically charges a 30% fee for apps sold through the App Store, as well as for in-app purchases, such as buying more lives on Candy crush or a skin i Minecraft.
“Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system doesn’t support crypto, so we couldn’t comply even if we tried,” read a Thursday tweet from Coinbase Wallet Twitter Account. Another tweet from the account read: “The biggest impact from this policy change is on iPhone users who own NFTs – if you have an NFT in a wallet on an iPhone, Apple just made it much harder to transfer that NFT to other wallets, or give it to friends or family.”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also checked in.
“Good example of the kind of discussions we have with Apple on a monthly basis, to deal with their app store monopoly. It’s gotten pretty absurd at times,” he tweeted Thursday.
The distance between Apple and Coinbase Wallet is the latest criticism of the tech giant’s control over apps in the ecosystem. In September, the company began allowing apps on the App Store to sell NFTs, as long as it still got a 30% cut of each purchase. Android’s Google Play store has a similar fee of 30%.
The heads of other major tech companies, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Elon Musk of Twitter, and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek have also criticized Apple for its tight grip on apps.
Apple did not immediately respond Fortuneits request for comment.
The move sparked criticism from prominent business leaders in traditional Internet companies and Web3 upstarts. Tim Sweeney, whose company Epic Games sued Apple in 2020 for alleged antitrust violations, said in a September tweet that the tech giant is “killing all the NFT app companies it can’t tax.”
On the Web3 site, co-founder and executive chairman of Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands Yat Siu told Fortune earlier this year that Apple’s decision to impose the 30% tax would drive away blockchain-based companies.
“The problem with Apple is that they charge you 30% because they’re Apple, with no other explanation,” Siu said Fortune at the time.
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