Apple just made it a lot harder to transfer NFTs to other wallets, according to Coinbase.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Coinbase said it was forced to disable NFT transfers on its self-custody wallet application after Apple blocked its latest app release.
Coinbase said that Apple demanded to collect 30% of the gas fees paid on these transactions as part of its in-app purchase policy. Apple’s updated policy guidelines posted on Oct. 22 state that apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock functionalities like QR codes, cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency wallets. Essentially, if app developers fail to implement the tax, then the app will be blocked from the store.
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.
— Coinbase Wallet (@CoinbaseWallet) December 1, 2022
“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,” said Coinbase.
Gas fees paid on an NFT transaction are sent to the Ethereum blockchain and the mechanism for determining the price of each transaction varies based on the degree of network traffic at a particular time.
The company likened Apple’s policy to “trying to take a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open Internet protocols.” The policy also makes it harder for iPhone users that hold an NFT on a wallet to transfer it to other wallets or gift it to friends and family, Coinbase said.
The move to block Coinbase Wallet from the app store over until it suspended the NFT transfer feature stirred up the crypto community, most of whom took to Twitter to share their outrage.
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 https://t.co/Wfyu9EcyuH— Jesse Powell (@jespow) December 1, 2022
Apple desperately trying to find every possible way to tax its users
Forcing a cut of the gas costs when transferring a nft is ridiculous and it’s wild that your app can be held hostage unti their demands are met
Another example of why permission-less systems matter! https://t.co/LPe4tyR5xC
— Furqan Rydhan (@FurqanR) December 1, 2022
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- Source: https://unchainedpodcast.com/coinbase-wallet-disables-nft-transfers-after-apple-demands-30-gas-fee-collection/
