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Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, the digital currency exchange, argued on Friday that Apple’s App Store regulations stifle innovation in the cryptocurrency space.
Detailed in a Twitter thread, Armstrong’s assessment of current App Store policy points to Apple’s numerous and specific restrictions on handling digital currency.
As for Coinbase, which markets an iOS app, the rules don’t allow the company to make money using cryptocurrencies and access decentralized financial apps. The last limitation is of particular interest to the broader segment of cryptocurrencies, according to Armstrong.
“DeFi and Dapps are an important area of innovation in financial services that has seen rapid growth lately. They allow people to access a global credit market to obtain a loan or earn interest, for example,” Armstrong said in a tweet. “Dapps or DeFi applications are basically websites that you can access through any browser. So Apple is basically saying that it cannot provide users with a list of websites that they can visit through an application.” .
He goes on to point out the potential impact Dapps and DeFi applications have on emerging markets and, more specifically, underserved communities. Technology can, for example, provide an alternative source of financing and loans in parts of the world where banks are unavailable or inaccessible.
For Armstrong, Apple’s rules on cryptocurrencies smack of anti-competitive strategies that Microsoft employed, pushing Windows users to Internet Explorer, more than 20 years ago. Those tactics led to government scrutiny and an antitrust case that initially sought to break the software monolith.
“Forcing users to use the App Store instead of Dapps (websites), or IAP instead of crypto payments, reminds me of what Microsoft did back in the day (force users to use IE if it was on Windows). That led to all their antitrust problems, “says Armstrongs.
Armstrong notes that many cryptocurrency apps are missing features because they are being “censored” by Apple.
The Coinbase CEO plans to formally challenge Apple’s App Store guidelines under a new review process that the tech giant announced in June.
Today’s Twitter thread on App Store cryptocurrency restrictions comes amid a heated debate over Apple’s handling of third-party apps. Several developers have openly criticized the company for its revenue sharing policies. In August, Epic Games filed a private antitrust lawsuit against Apple over App Store fees and restrictions that prohibit third-party app stores, while an ongoing investigation by the US Congress seeks to determine whether the tech giant violated antitrust laws.
