Apple Rejects Coinbase Wallet NFT Features

Apple blocked Coinbase's latest app release until it disabled the ability to send NFTs through its Coinbase Wallet iOS platform, according to a recent tweet from the company.

"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 collection 30 percent of the gas fee," the Twitter thread continues. "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."

This is part of Apple's larger refusal to exempt NFTs from its App Store's fees.

Coinbase believes this policy protects the company's profits at the expensve of their customers.

"This is akin to Apple trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols," the Coinbase team writes. "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."

"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," Coinbase continues. "We hope this is an oversight on Apple's behalf and an inflection point for further conversations with the ecosystem."

Apple will likely continue to play it safe as it navigates new technological landscapes.