NFT Startups Sanctioned by Apple: Details

Leading gaming developers are enraged by the new requirements of Apple Inc. for applications uploaded to its App Store. According to them, these restrictions can damage the nascent segment of NFTs.

Apple makes iOS-based NFT games impose 30% taxes on in-app sales

Tim Sweeney has taken to Twitter to highlight that Apple Inc. required all teams who released games with NFTs to transfer them only as in-app purchases.

Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can't tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service. Apple must be stopped. https://t.co/4KChp6jtFZ

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 23, 2022

Normally, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — just like any other blockchain-based assets — can be freely transferred between crypto wallets with no need for third-party supervision.

In that case, NFTs are sold in a peer-to-peer manner with no additional commissions except "gas fees" or a "selling tax" imposed by the game itself.

With new restrictions by Apple, some teams should increase taxes for NFT trades by over 30%. This, in turn, makes all operations with in-game NFTs too costly for the majority of gamers, Mr. Sweeney adds:

Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can't tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service 

Community calls for crypto phone

Crypto industry heavyweights highlighted that the problem could be solved with a crypto-specific store for digital applications independent from big tech giants.

Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO and co-founder of Solana Labs, is sure that the Apple-driven witch hunt against NFTs could catalyze an inflow of users to its Solana Saga, world's first crypto smartphone:

I was wrong about Apple. I thought their push to onboard people into crypto is at least 5 years out. Super exited to see Apple's support for @solanamobile

As covered by U.Today previously, in 2022, crypto majors Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT) are betting big on releasing own smartphones with crypto, DeFi and NFT functionality.