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November 24, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Apple

Apple is facing the wrath of crypto users yet again as a popular Bitcoin Lightning wallet disappeared from its U.S.-facing App Store.

Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

On Nov. 24, several users and crypto community participants shared on X (Twitter) their attempts to search for the WoS app, which turned up no results or redirected users to competing wallet apps.

Wallet of Satoshi banned in the US? pic.twitter.com/S44qN5UI2U
— ck (@ck_SNARKs) November 23, 2023

However, the WoS app still appeared for download on the Australian Apple App Store and the Australian and Singapore Google Play Store versions at the time of writing.

*Apple’s U.S. App Store doesn’t return results when searching for Wallet of Satoshi. Source: Apple*

Wallet of Satoshi is a popular Lightning payments platform that is on pace to process over 1.1 million Lightning payments in November, according to industry author and podcaster Kevin Rooke.

Wallet of Satoshi is on pace to process over 1.1 million Lightning payments in November.

This will be their largest month of Lightning payments ever.

⚡️ pic.twitter.com/oCxIce7kit
— Kevin Rooke (@kerooke) November 22, 2023

Rooke added that it would be the firm’s “largest month of Lightning payments ever.”

Apple and Wallet of Satoshi did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

Apple levies a hefty 30% tax on in-app payments, which it maintains a tight leash over and has been a barrier for crypto platforms wanting an App Store presence.

On Nov. 17, a group of disgruntled PayPal Venmo and Block Cash App users filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company had entered into anti-competitive agreements with PayPal and Block to restrict the use of crypto technology and payments on iOS.

Apple has a history of removing crypto apps, with the firm delisting the Nostr-based Damus app over a Bitcoin tip feature in June. It also briefly pulled the MetaMask wallet app from its App Store in October.

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Apple sued for blocking crypto tech for P2P payments

November 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Apple

Apple faces a class action over alleged anti-competitive conduct in the iOS peer-to-peer payments market.

Disgruntled consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple claiming the tech giant has conspired to limit peer-to-peer payment options on its devices and block crypto technology from iOS payments apps.

The Nov. 17 complaint filed in a California District Court alleges Apple entered into anti-competitive agreements with PayPal’s Venmo and Block’s Cash App to restrict the use of decentralized cryptocurrency technology in payment apps, which caused users to pay "rapidly inflating prices."

“These agreements limit feature competition—and the price competition that would flow from it—marketwide, including by barring the incorporation of decentralized cryptocurrency technology within existing or new iOS Peer-to-Peer Payment apps,” the filing says.

The plaintiffs also claimed Apple uses “technological and contractual restraints,” including hardware-enforced App Store exclusivity and “contractual limitations on web browser technology” to “exercise unfettered control over every app installed and run on iPhones and iPads.”

With these restraints, Apple can — and does — force new to market iOS P2P payment apps to bar crypto "as a condition for entry," the suit claimed.

*Excerpt of the suit alleging Apple restricts decentralized payment technology. Source: PACER*

The plaintiffs describe themselves as customers who have paid inflated fees due to Apple’s restraints of trade across the iOS P2P payment market.

They seek to recover for excessive fees and overcharging due to Apple’s alleged anticompetitive conduct and injunctive relief barring the firm from continuing to enter into and enforce anticompetitive agreements restraining iOS P2P Payment Market competitors and would-be entrants.

The 58-page class action details the history and rise of peer-to-peer payment apps and decentralized cryptocurrencies and Apple’s entry into this market.

In April, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Apple violated California’s competition laws by not allowing apps to direct users to non-Apple linked payment solutions.

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New wallet uses Amazon hardware security modules to eliminate seed words

May 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

amazon HSM

The newly launched crypto wallet by Kresus requires users to sign in with “magic links,” meaning password hashes don’t need to be stored.

A new crypto wallet has just launched in Apple’s App Store store that uses Web2 trickery to ensure users don’t need to interact with seed phrases or passwords.

According to a May 11 announcement from the app’s developer, Kresus, the new wallet stores users’ private keys in an Amazon Web Services Hardware Security Module (HSM) and uses “magic links” and 2FA to authenticate users.

Most crypto wallets require users to write down a recovery phrase or “seed words” when they set up an account. If the user loses their recovery phrase and their device crashes, they lose access to their account forever.

For this reason, some crypto users prefer to store their crypto in an exchange account. But events like the collapse of FTX have also led to fears that keeping crypto in an exchange could also be unsafe.

*A screenshot of the Kresus iOS app. Source: Kresus Labs*

Speaking to Cointelegraph, the Kresus team said that their new wallet app attempts to fix this problem using a wallet infrastructure and software development kit (SDK) called “Magic,” which stores the user’s private key on an Amazon Web Services computer that is specifically designed to store highly sensitive information.

The AWS computer encrypts the user’s key with a Master Key that cannot leave the hardware module, much in the same way that a hardware wallet does. This eliminates the need for seed words or private keys to be stored on the device or kept as a paper backup, the team said.

Unlike a centralized exchange, Kresus does not use passwords to authenticate users, since stealing password hashes and cracking them is one of the most common techniques hackers use to get access to web accounts. Instead, it requires users to click a link from within an email each time they attempt to log in.

The app also uses 2FA to protect the account in case the user’s email address becomes compromised.

When it comes to sending crypto, users don’t need to cut and paste crypto addresses on Kresus. Instead, the app allows each user to register for a free .kresus domain name through Unstoppable Domains, which they can use to send crypto to others.

“We’re really trying to offer something that is truly a better mousetrap for any Web3 user,” Kresus CEO Trevor Traina told Cointelegraph. “Where you can move all of your things from multiple places into one place, have it be very accessible but highly secure […] but also a gateway portal for people who aren’t comfortable yet on Web3 because they’re terrified they’ll be locked out.”

The Kresus team stated that because of the way Magic infrastructure works, neither they nor the Magic development team are able to see the user’s private key during account creation or login, so they cannot make unauthorized transactions.

The Web3 app developer closed a $25 million funding round to support the development of its so-called SuperApp in March.

Web3 superapp @Kresusofficial raised $25M in a Series A funding round led by @LCVentures, with participation from @FTI_US and JetBlue Ventures.https://t.co/ymXkN5DBAx pic.twitter.com/Cgw30Hvimo
— Crypto Fundraising #StandWithUkraine (@Crypto_Dealflow) March 7, 2023

Kresus is not the only wallet to offer seedless onboarding through Magic SDK. Web3 gaming company Immutable told Cointelegraph that it is also developing a seedless wallet called “Immutable Passport” that uses the same infrastructure. Passport will work on the Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM networks and will be used to onboard players of Immutable’s Web3 games, such as Gods Unchained and Guild of Guardians.

Uniswap launches iOS mobile wallet in select countries

April 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Apple

The decentralized exchange had previously stated that Apple was not allowing the app to be listed on the App Store.

Decentralized exchange Uniswap has launched a mobile wallet that features built-in support for the exchange, according to an April 13 announcement from the company. The app is available for iOS devices in select countries and can be found in Apple’s App Store.

1/ THIS IS NOT A DRILL

The Uniswap mobile wallet is out of Apple jail and now live in most countries ✨

Download our self-custody, open-sourced app today! https://t.co/yWxuw79xTY pic.twitter.com/QhK06icKBL
— Uniswap Labs (@Uniswap) April 13, 2023

The Uniswap team complained on March 3 that Apple was blocking the app from its stores. But in this new announcement, the team said that its wallet is “out of Apple jail and now live in most countries.”

Uniswap said the new wallet allows users to swap tokens on the Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism networks. It can also be connected to any Ethereum app through WalletConnect. Users can back up their accounts by either writing down their seed phrase or encrypting their key vaults with a password and storing them in iCloud.

The Uniswap app also allows users to see detailed information about nonfungible tokens (NFTs) stored within it, including their floor prices and collections.

To make Web3 onboarding easier, several wallet developers have offered mobile apps with built-in decentralized finance (DeFi) functions over the past few years. In 2020, Argent integrated MakerDAO and other DeFi protocols with its wallet app, and 1inch provided similar integrations in 2021.

Uniswap is Ethereum’s largest decentralized crypto exchange, with over $3.4 billion of total value locked inside of its smart contracts, according to its own analytics page.

Cointelegraph reached out to the Uniswap team for a list of countries where the app is available but was unable to get a response by the time of publication.

Absorb for adoption — How infamous 30% Apple cut affects iOS NFT apps

March 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Apple

NFT application endures demanding fees on the Apple App store for the convenience of iOS payments and a broad user base.

Apple’s continued enforcement of in-app purchases to sell services remains a trade-off for NFT applications looking to tap into the convenience of streamlined in-app purchases for iPhone users and a massive user base around the world.

As previously reported, Apple maintains strict rules for nonfungible token (NFT) apps, enforcing a 30% commission on the sale of NFTs through in-app purchases.

The enforcement of this 30% commission has been a sore point, with Coinbase Wallet seeing an update to its application blocked by Apple in December 2022. This was due to Apple suspending the latest app release until Coinbase Wallet disabled the ability to send NFTs through the application.

Apple may have to permit third-party app stores on its devices by 2024 in the European Union in response to the recently drawn up Digital Markets Act. This is expected to allow developers to install alternative payment systems within non-Apple apps, but would not apply to countries outside of the EU.

Cointelegraph reached out to Nodle CEO Micha Anthenor Benoliel to unpack the implications for NFT apps that continue to operate through the Apple Store. Nodle’s app rewards users for participating as nodes in a proprietary decentralized IoT network, in addition to allowing users to mint NFTs from their smartphones.

Benoliel notes that Apple has clear guidelines enforcing NFT apps to use the in-app purchase to sell any services similar to minting of an NFT, in an effort to prevent users from purchasing NFTs from mobile applications outside of the Apple App store and its in-app purchase function:

“It may take some time for them to fully grasp the implications of Web3 principles, but for now, it looks like they are trying to safeguard their business and customers by enforcing these guidelines.”

This is in clear contrast to Android, where app developers have freedom to experiment and are not boxed into using the Play Store in-app purchase mechanism to mint or sell NFTs. Nevertheless Benoliel believes there are a myriad of benefits that balance out the trade-off of Apple’s current terms and conditions.

He notes that iOS holds a commanding position in the U.S. mobile market, while its in-app purchase functionality removes payment friction for iPhone users:

“The company has gone to great lengths to simplify the purchasing process and make it easier for developers to support transactions without managing sensitive credit card information.”

The App Store also provides a centralized service that handles various currencies and exchange rates that developers would have to manage when implementing a credit card payment solution.

Nodle intends to provide infrastructure to creators to enable app users to mint unique creations. In order to provide this service to iOS users under Apple’s current conditions, the platform has had to shift costs towards its users:

“There's a catch. Apple charges up to 30% of the sale price for minting an NFT. Nodle includes this fee in its customer-facing price.”

Nodle’s NFT minting process allows a user to make use of camera photos or images from their galleries before paying for minting costs using Apple’s in-app purchase. The ‘Minting as a Service’ component features a centralized service that receives and checks images before minting the NFT using the Polkadot NFT pallet upon payment confirmation.

*An NFT minted through the Nodle mobile application. Source: Nodle*

Benoliel told Cointelegraph that Apple could benefit in the long run from the free exchange and trading of NFTs in apps, which could incentivize users to opt for alternative solutions:

“When you read about incoming EU laws that will force Apple to permit alternative app stores and apps without the need to go through its App Store, one can wonder if this could not happen soon in the US as well.”

Up until that point, Benoliel believes that there is still a valid argument for NFT app developers to consider supporting iOS, citing the in-app purchase feature’s convenience for transactions. A massive user base also presents a ‘valuable opportunity’ for developers to reach a broad audience of potential users.

Cryptocurrency wallet applications are also grappling with specific requirements to launch on the Apple App store. Decentralized exchange Uniswap intended to launch its iOS app in December 2022 but has not been given the go-ahead by Apple.

IOS