von • Two US lawmakers have written a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, raising concern about how the company’s guidelines may restrict crypto and Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
• The two lawmakers are Congressman Gus Bilirakis of Florida and his Illinois counterpart Jan Schakowsky.
• They’ve highlighted concerns about Apple’s plans to develop blockchain-based apps and how these policies could potentially affect the country’s leadership status in the technological landscape.
Letter Sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook
Two United States lawmakers have written to Apple CEO Tim Cook, raising concern about how the company’s guidelines may restrict crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Congressman Gus Bilirakis of Florida and his Illinois counterpart Jan Schakowsky, on July 28, jointly sent a letter to the tech giant expressing their concerns that Apple’s App Store guidelines could potentially curb the growth of emerging technologies such as blockchain and NFTs.
Concerns Raised About Blockchain Apps
The letter posed several questions to Cook, asking for detailed information and documents regarding the App Store’s policies. It also highlighted concerns about Apple’s plans to develop blockchain-based apps. It questioned whether the company is leveraging its app rules to boost revenue at the expense of crypto-related applications. One of the anti-crypto policies cited in the letter included the requirement for blockchain projects to relinquish 30% of their gas fees to the App Store. In December 2022, Coinbase Wallet claimed that such a requirement was impossible to comply with since Apple’s in-app purchase system did not support crypto.
Congress Must Understand Tech Policies
Bilirakis, a Republican, and Schakowsky, a Democrat, hold ranking positions in the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee and have emphasized the need for Congress to understand implications of App Store guidelines on innovation and tech leadership. Key figures in Crypto space have welcomed this inquiry by both lawmakers as they believe it will help bring awareness on what needs changing when it comes to technology policy making.
Coinbase’s Claim Against The Policy
In December 2022 Coinbase wallet claimed that complying with such restrictions was impossible since apple’s in app purchase system did not support crypto currency transactions which made them be required by apple’s policy makers ot disabled certain features if they wanted their app approved for release into apples app store . This led many people within cryptocurrency companies or organizations start questioning if apple was using its app rules as an advantage over other companies just so they can get more revenue instead of letting new technologies like cryptocurrencies blossom .
Conclusion
The inquiry raised by both US lawmakers has been welcomed by key players within Cryptocurrency sector as it brings more awareness on what needs changing when creating technology policies that could potentially limit innovation from growing further .
