Evan Kaloudis, the founder of Bitcoin wallet ‘Zeus’ took to Twitter to announce that the new version of the wallet ‘0.7.6’ has not been approved by Apple. In the rejection statement, Apple pointed out,
“Your app facilitates the transmission of a virtual currency but was not submitted by a corresponding exchange or recognized financial institution.“
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To resolve this issue, the team has been asked to provide “documentary evidence” showing that Zeus has the “necessary licenses and permissions” to distribute an app with crypto exchange features in all the locations where the app is currently available. Prominent author Preston Pysh followed up with Kaloudis and asked for updates. Retrospectively, Kaloudis replied,
“Not quite. We’ve added some notes for them and resubmitted.”
The latest development comes on the heels of the Apple-Damus episode. Yesterday, the team shared Apple’s warning letter stating the app will be removed from the platform because of the “Zaps” feature. The feature facilitates user and creator tips in Bitcoin. The integration of the Lighting Network widget made Bitcoin payments and tips on the platform possible.
Apple specifically stated in its warning that the Zaps feature breaches its policy prohibiting any form of tipping feature other than in-app purchases. Although the tipping feature may be optional, “if they [users] are connected to or associated with receiving digital content, they must use in-app purchase,” Apple’s statement read. According to the Damus team,
“This would be a watershed moment: If people can’t transact freely P2P on their platform, this has huge implications for the entire ecosystem of apps with lightning integration and v4v.”
Community criticizes Apple’s decision
Several from the space shared their opinion w.r.t. to the latest developments. Breez, a full-service, non-custodial Lightning client tweeted,
“Non-custodial wallets should be approved, there’s a specific exception in the same section. There are a lot of wallets in the app store.”
Twitter founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey additionally criticized the move and called Apple’s move “incorrect.” He clarified that tipping on posts “is not selling digital content.” Instead, it is a “form of feedback.” He further went on to question Apple CEO Tim Cook, “Why limit people sending Bitcoin to each other?” He emphasized that this is “our one opportunity to build a truly global payment protocol for the Internet.”
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In fact, others from the space, including Epic Games Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, were of the opinion that “if Apple can tax this, they can tax digital banking, payroll, and anything else.” Furthermore, Twitter executive Elon Musk was on the same page as Dorsey. He tweeted,
“If Apple competes against the whole world, Apple will have the whole world against it. This is not a winning scenario.“
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