Apple formalized its policies for iOS apps that deal with non-fungible tokens on Monday by giving the in-app minting, buying, and selling of NFTs - actions that it had never officially forbidden - its first formal approval. But the de facto prohibition on NFT trading in apps imposed by the iPhone manufacturer is likely to continue.
This is so that in-app NFT transactions can utilize Apple's in-app commerce rails, where Apple requires a 30% share. In order to avoid losing a sizable portion of revenue, creators and marketplaces have long resisted the levies by deciding to restrict in-app NFT capabilities.
The Information recently published a story on how marketplaces and creators are avoiding Apple's ecosystem and sometimes completely giving up on NFT integrations because of the company's fee practices. It would seem improbable that applications that chose to sell NFT mints could receive cryptocurrency in exchange because Apple's "in-app purchase" mechanism does not handle cryptocurrency payments.
Apple's current policy allowing in-app crypto trading on platforms like Coinbase and FTX, which don't have to pay 30% fees, is not substantially altered by the revised phrasing. The updated regulation forbids apps from providing NFT owners with exclusive access or from referring their users to external websites where they could conduct transactions outside of the Apple ecosystem and so avoid paying the fee mockingly referred to as the "Apple Tax."
Apple's App Store policies were updated on Monday for the first time to include explicit regulations for NFTs. Section 3.1.1. of its App Store rules reads, "Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies, and cryptocurrency wallets, etc."
Nonfungible Token (NFT) app developers and others objected to Apple's proposal to levy a 30% commission on NFTs sold through apps on its marketplace, thus bringing NFT sales on par with standard in-app purchases, last September.
The smartphone company, according to a report from The Information, is now allowing NFTs to be bought and sold through apps listed on its marketplace, but it still levies its standard 30% commission on in-app purchases, which is similar to the commission levied by Google Play, the app store for Android.
However, some have criticized the commission rate as being "grotesquely overpriced" - especially in light of the fact that regular NFT marketplace commissions are roughly 2.5%.
It's not the first time businesses have fought with Apple about its commissions; Epic Games has initiated legal action after its blockbuster game Fortnite was removed from the App Store in August 2020 after the publisher tried to market in-game transactions that avoided Apple's fees.
