thecoinrepublic.com
- NFTs can now be sold on iOS applications. The 30% fee remains
- NFT community divided over the move
- Is it a boost to mass adoption or a monopolistic move?
Apps on Apple devices can now sell Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to users. Apple will apply a 30% commission on each transaction. This rate applies to all applications on the App store. However, some members of the crypto community feel the fee is too high.
Applications on Apple devices that are not developed by Apple can be installed only from the App Store, unlike Android devices. Apple charges a 30% commission fee for each transaction from apps that have in-app purchases. OpenSea, which is the largest NFT marketplace, charges only a 2.5% fee on NFT sales.
Market volatility, rising energy costs, interest rate hikes, and geo-political events are crushing markets. The air reeks of volatility. Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest coins by market cap are not faring well either.
Mixed reactions from the community
The reactions are a case of the half-glass full/empty story: some feel that the hike is not ‘developer friendly’ while some are celebrating the move saying it will increase adoption. The “empty” proponents believe the fee is too high and discourages start-ups while the “full” proponents believe the focus should not be on the commission fee; instead, the scope of mass adoption must be appreciated.
Sidney Zhang, Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of Magic Eden told Aidan Ryan of The Information that the exorbitant fee has prevented them from allowing the sale of NFTs on their application. Ryan also reported that Apple offered to reduce the fee to 15%.
Tim Sweeny, Epic Games’ CEO tweeted that Apple is crushing a potential rival in its nascent stages; that ‘Apple must be stopped’
Gabriel Leydon, CEO of Limit Break, a mobile-based gaming company, is optimistic, to say the least. He began a discussion by tweeting the aforementioned article saying that “…Everyone is focusing on Apple wanting its 30% cut of each transaction without realizing this could put an ETH wallet in every single mobile game onboarding 1B+ players!”.