Apple's Nifty Policies

Apple has updated its AppStore terms and conditions. Among others, there are paragraphs about NFT and crypto exchanges. The future of NFTs on Apple devices is uncertain.

The policy for the crypto exchanges is clear: to list the apps they need to have “appropriate licensing and permissions” in the regions of distribution.

As for NFTs, Apple allows viewing and browsing of NFT collections, but transactions are only possible through in-app mechanisms.

“Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app. Apps may allow users to browse NFT collections owned by others, provided that the apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase.”

Most commentators interpreted this as Apple’s greediness and expressed concerns about the 30% fees charged on NFT transactions. However, it went unnoticed that the policy relates specifically to so-called “utility” NFTs - tokens that unlock specific features inside applications. By definition  Apple’s “in-app purchase” is designed for “consumable” and “non-consumable” application features and subscriptions.

For utility NFTs the policy sounds legit. With this move, Apple regains control over the content of applications. NFTs could potentially unlock application features that Apple had not validated. This is reasonable for a company that can be sued for the contents of the apps on its marketplace.

But how about NFTs that have a different purpose, for example, art NFT or tokens that represent real estate? A plausible analogy here is the stock market broker applications - Apple does not charge 30% on stock purchase within those apps. With current policy, it looks like Apple allows only browsing of such assets. Will there be exemptions for certain classes of NFT or will Apple go against the NFT trend and ban such assets all together – we will continue to observe.