coindesk.com
Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) has disabled non-fungible token (NFT) trading on its iOS wallet app due to a dispute with Apple (AAPL) over the company’s in-app purchase policy.
Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Coinbase said Apple is demanding Coinbase pays its gas fees using Apple software, which would thus make those gas fees then subject to Apple’s 30% app tax.
“For anyone who understands how NFTs and blockchains work, this is clearly not possible,” Coinbase said. “Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried.”
The dispute is the latest in a months-long saga between Apple and the larger NFT community. In October, Apple officially refused to exempt NFT trading from its 30% App Store fee, a policy that has kept marketplaces like OpenSea from offering NFT trading within its mobile app.
Apple did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment by press time.
Read more: Apple Refuses to Exempt NFTs From App Store’s 30% Fee
“When someone imposes rules that can’t be followed, you should ask why,” Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewel tweeted in response to the decision.
Coinbase’s Apple feud also comes alongside new Twitter owner Elon Musk’s questioning of that same 30% in-app fee policy, and Musk’s claim that Apple has threatened to remove Twitter from its app store.