Coinbase Wallet says Apple requested 30% of all NFT transfer gas fees

Coinbase Wallet on Dec. 1 revealed that Apple blocked its last application update and requested 30% of all NFT transfer gas fees.

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 (@CoinbaseWallet) December 1, 2022

According to the crypto wallet service provider, this was why its users couldn’t send NFTs via their iPhones anymore.

Coinbase wallet wrote that Apple’s request was “clearly not possible,” adding that “Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto.

The crypto wallet service provider described Apple’s 30% request as an attempt “to take a cut of the fees for every email sent over open Internet protocols.”

Coinbase Wallet said:

“Apple has introduced new policies to protect their profits at the expense of consumer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.”

The “Apple Tax”

The crypto community had previously expressed concerns over Apple’s 30% cut on NFT sales made via in-app purchases.

In October, the tech giant said developers would be allowed to issue NFTs on their apps.

However, these NFTs cannot be used to unlock new features or content. Apple also said developers could optimize their apps to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions on only licensed exchanges.

The crypto community reacted negatively to this news, with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney saying, “Apple’s motivations are only money.”

Apple’s 30% fee was introduced in 2008 by CEO Steve Jobs. The tech firm takes a reduced fee of 15% fee from developers earning less than $1 million annually.

Journalist at CryptoSlate

Oluwapelumi is a believer in the transformative power Bitcoin and the blockchain industry holds.