Tech giant Apple allows apps to sell and buy NFTs on its App Store, but there is an ick: Apple will charge a massive 30% commission for any NFT transactions done through the apps.
Most of the community has criticized the commission rate as horrifically overpriced, especially compared to regular NFT marketplace commissions.
The 30% commission rate will also discourage projects, game developers, and app developers from using this functionality on the App Store.
This is because other common NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea and Magic Eden, frequently take 2% to 5% commission fee.
According to a report from The Information, Magic Eden declined its service from the AppStore following the ridiculous fee revelation.
Even after being given the option of a 15% transaction rate for firms with annual revenue of less than $1 million, Magic Eden refused. At the time of writing, Magic Eden is still available in the app store.
Despite the fact that Apple presently permits apps on the App Store to sell NFTs, the firm will not yet accept cryptocurrency. Apple is also avoiding taking a direct stance in the cryptocurrency and NFT industries fearing regulatory scrutiny.
This is not the first time firms have fought Apple over its commissions. Epic Games initiated legal action when Fortnite attempted to sell in-game purchases that avoided Apple’s commissions, and the game was removed from the App Store in August 2020.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, tweeted after the new 30% commission rate, saying “Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can’t tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service.”
In July, US Senator Sherrod Brown sent letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google calling them out on fake crypto apps. Now, Apple is immunized from crypto phishing app class action after a federal judge in California dismissed the proposed “phishing app” lawsuit.
