Apple Lands into Legal Trouble for Obstructing Crypto Tech from iOS Payment Apps

The lawsuit alleges that Apple exercises excessive control over all apps that run on iOS using tech and contractual constraints.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 21 November 2023 16:08 IST

Photo Credit: Reuters

Apple has kept its ecosystem away from Web3, which is unpopular for being volatile

Highlights

Apple does not allow all crypto-related apps on its App Store
The complainants are iOS users who wish to pay online via crypto
Apple has not reacted to the development as of now

Apple, despite having faced constant criticism from the Web3 industry for its unfriendly policies, now finds itself in a legal soup. A bunch of resentful Apple users, who are also part of the crypto community, have now filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple. In their complaint, the group has accused the iPhone-maker for not expanding its array of peer-to-peer payment services and especially restricting crypto payments. The complaint has been filed in a District Court in California, US.

The plaintiffs, in their complaint, have accused Apple of having entered into anti-competitive agreements with Cash App owned by Jack Doresey's Block and PayPal-owned payments app Venmo. With these agreements, Apple has been accused of blocking crypto payments that forced some of its users to continue paying in ‘rapidly inflating prices'. The lawsuit also alleges that Apple exercises excessive control over all apps that run on iOS using tech and contractual constraints.

“These agreements limit feature competition—and the price competition that would flow from it—market wide, including by barring the incorporation of decentralised cryptocurrency technology within existing or new iOS peer-to-peer payment apps,” CoinTelegraph quoted the lawsuit as saying.

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Snapshots of the 58-page court filing are floating around on X.

:globe_with_meridians: Apple sued for blocking crypto tech for P2P payments

Disgruntled consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit in a California District Court, :us: stating that the tech giant has conspired to restrict peer-to-peer payment options on its devices and block crypto technology from… pic.twitter.com/eOGHGBN0W8
— Bitcoin_Xfinance (@BTC_XFINANCE) November 21, 2023

Apple has not reacted to development as of yet. The tech giant, that has maintained a safe distance from the volatile crypto sector, has not disclosed any plans of merging its ecosystem with Web3 anytime soon. Apple has been getting infamously notorious for getting into spats with Web3 apps. In June this year, two Bitcoin wallet providers — Zeus and Damus called out the iPhone-maker for restricting their apps on Apple's App Store.

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Meanwhile, in April -- a California appeals court called Apple's policy of not allowing app developers to integrate third party payment methods with their services as ‘unlawful'. The court ruling is expected to bring changes to Apple's App Store payment practices and could also allow Web3 apps to add more operability to their iOS iterations.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Apple, Crypto Apps, iOS

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More