NFT transactions are no longer supported by Coinbase’s Wallet iOS application as a result of Apple’s strict new NFT restrictions which were announced in October.
On December 1, Coinbase Wallet claimed on Twitter that the tech corporation, which has a market valuation of more than $2 trillion, had blocked the most recent version of its app in an effort to “extract 30% of the gas fee” through in-app sales. According to the platform, Apple wants to stop NFT transactions in Coinbase Wallet by enacting”new restrictions to safeguard corporate revenues at the expense of customer investment in NFTs and developer innovation across the crypto ecosystem.
Coinbase claims the ban might have been a mistake
Coinbase Wallet shared on Twitter Thursday,
“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,”
According to the wallet software users who would be impacted by the decision, i.e. those who use iPhones would find it a lot more difficult to move that NFT to other wallets. The Company further stated that the ban might have been a mistake and urged Apple to get in touch with the company if there were any concerns.
NFTs are subject to a steep 30% transaction tax on Apple’s mobile app store, even if they aren’t officially forbidden. Developers will have their apps removed from the store if they are unable to comply with that guideline. According to Coinbase, this is obviously not possible for anyone who is familiar with how blockchains and NFTs operate. Coinbase added,
“Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t comply because Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase mechanism doesn’t handle cryptocurrency.”
Gas fees
A fee known as gas is charged for each transaction a user does on the Ethereum network, even if they are just transferring an asset like an NFT to another wallet. The network cannot function without these fees. However, they are more intricate than a flat rate and are not under the jurisdiction of a single organization. The cost of gas, which is measured in gwei but paid for in ETH, varies according to the activity on the Ethereum network and the effectiveness of a smart contract’s code. Additionally, more experienced users can choose to pay more to move their transactions up the list.
In December 2021, Coinbase initially revealed that it would add NFT compatibility to its self-custody wallet, enabling users to access marketplaces like OpenSea through the app. In addition, the app announced on November 29 that it would stop supporting Bitcoin Cash due to poor usage.
These limitations on its mobile application have angered the Company, which compares Apple’s action to “Apple wanting to take a piece of fees for every email that gets sent via open Internet protocols.”
