The self-custody wallet of crypto exchange Coinbase says that tech giant Apple has blocked its latest app release, effectively leaving iOS device users unable to send non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
In a series of tweets, Coinbase Wallet says that Apple wants the updated app to disable the feature that allows users to send NFTs.
“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.”
Coinbase Wallet says Apple wants customers to pay a 30% gas fee on all NFT transactions, noting that Apple’s demand appears impossible as proprietary Apple technology is currently incompatible with digital assets.
“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.
For anyone who understands how NFTs and blockchains work, this is clearly not possible. Apple’s proprietary system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried.”
The platform says Apple’s policy change will have the most impact on iPhone users who own digital collectibles.
“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.”
Amid the dispute over how the NFT gas fees should be paid and the pending release of its app update, Coinbase says it is open for a discussion with Apple.
“We hope this is an oversight on Apple’s behalf and an inflection point for further conversations with the ecosystem. Apple – we’re here and want to help.”
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