Tech giant Apple has approved the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in App Store apps. The company charges them a standard 30% commission.
Do you remember in September 2021? In a tweet on September 14, Lukas Schor, head of product development at Gnosis Safe, announced that the App Store was blocking an update to its Ethereum wallet. However, it was supposed to offer NFT purchases.
Yes, it seemed that Apple didn’t appreciate NFTs too much at that time. However, the tech company is helping to drive the adoption of cryptocurrencies, for example, by allowing the purchase of digital currencies on Coinbase via Apple Pay.
A year later, according to a report by The Information, the smartphone company now allows the buying and selling of NFTs. It can be done via app store listed on its marketplace, but imposes its standard 30% in-app purchase fee.
Obviously, the NFT boom in the last year has surely attracted Apple, which has obviously decided to enter this interesting market to do new business, taking advantage of its dominant position in the app market, thanks to its App Store.
Apple, 30% commission decision on NFTs sold
As a reminder, the App Store is an online store exclusively for users of Apple-branded devices. It is the virtual store where you can download new apps for your smartphone and tablet. Some of them are free and some are paid.
Non-fungible token (NFT) app developers and others have balked at this 30% commission decision on NFTs sold. The decision means that NFT purchases is in the same boat as regular in-app purchases.
Indeed, the crypto community has criticized Apple’s fees, while major exchanges charge up to 5% for mediation.
“Now Apple is killing all the NFT apps it can’t tax, destroying yet another nascent technology that can compete with its grotesquely priced integrated payment service. Apple must be stopped,” wrote Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.
However, other executives see this decision as an opportunity. The head of mobile game developer Limit Break, Gabriel Leydon, supported Apple’s decision, saying:
“Everyone is focused on the fact that Apple wants 30% of every transaction, without realizing that this can put an ETH wallet in every mobile game with a total audience of over a billion people,” he explained.
Mojang Studios, the studio behind Minecraft, said earlier that it “does not support or allow” NFT integration in the game.
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