Apple Resistance to Crypto Continues... Instead of Reading Their Guidelines and Trying to Comply, Try This...

Apple has been?reportedly on a mission to restrict the usage of cryptocurrencies within their app store. Here are just some examples:

• In December 2022, the Coinbase?app was blocked until Coinbase removed its NFT transfer feature. Apple wanted to?enforce that the gas fees for NFT transfers should be paid using the in-app purchase feature (which would include a 30% fee)?which Coinbase said was technically impossible.
• Uniswap app had a prolonged conflict with Apple over its app features during?the spring of 2023. Apple was trying to enforce its guidelines claiming that only "approved exchanges" are allowed.
• Damus,?a decentralized social media platform, faced expulsion from the Appstore in June 2023 if it persisted in facilitating the acceptance of “zaps” – tips using Bitcoin?on content posts. It was viewed by Apple as circumventing in-app purchase requirements.
• Metamask app disappeared from the Apple app store for a few days in October 2023, because Apple decided that there were too many copycat apps trying to impersonate Metamask.
• In June 2023, Apple also rejected the Zeus app, requesting proof of?licenses and permissions to facilitate the transmission of cryptocurrencies, despite the fact that such licenses are not required for?non-custodial wallets like Zeus because they?don’t take custody of funds or private keys.
• And in January 2024 most crypto apps just disappeared from the Apple Appstore in India.

Those are just publicized cases... and there are hundreds of other apps developed by smaller startups who have been going back, and forth,?and around the circle with Apple for months, providing legal opinions and copies of their licenses... only to see their app being rejected.

Many strategic mistakes are made by FinTech leaders when they make decisions based exclusively on their understanding of laws and regulations. Or Apple Appstore Guidelines.?

Look, I understand why you think that trying to read the original laws and regulations may feel like a rational approach to going back to the fundamental principles. We have been told for a really long time that assembling data is good and useful. I understand why you may think that.

But let’s look at driving, which is also based on rules, and it also requires the driver to navigate dynamic situations involving reactions and movements of others.

Let me ask you: can you be a competent driver able to get to your final destination on time and without accidents if you just follow the traffic rules without paying attention to what is happening around you, without non-verbal communication with other drivers, without using your overall human experience? Just from reading the rules, you won’t be able to find answers about when you should give way to someone, when to wait, when to overtake another car, or when to stay in your own lane.? Simply following the rule and making decisions based on that can in fact put you in danger by creating a false sense of security and competency, because driving requires more than following the rules.

Compliance is no different – it requires more skills and competencies than just following the rules.

And if you continue trying to make decisions, for example, just based on your reading and understanding of the Apple Appstore Guidelines, which is probably what you have been doing, you could continue being stonewalled, misunderstood, and misinterpreted for months, and even after 5-10 resubmissions and multiple calls with Appstore reviewers, may be facing either rejections or completely unreasonable requests.

You can read the app store guidelines all day long every day, and still won’t understand how the Metamask or Uniswap apps got approved.

Here are some of the common mistakes crypto startups make:

• Arguing that since country XXX does not have any specific licensing requirements, you can offer your services there.
• Arguing that DeFi and DEX business models do not require licensing.
• Trying to remove your app from some of the countries and hoping to keep a few countries that are really important to you.
• Not knowing how to explain white-label setups, inter-company arrangements, or partnerships.

To answer your most common questions about Apple and Google Appstore guidelines we have to move beyond the written guidelines and look at the arguments and explanations that have actually worked for other crypto companies.

To do just that we are offering this fast and furious value-packed workshop on crypto compliance, that has become a total hit. In just 90 minutes you will find the answers you need to be able to secure approvals for your app and correctly explain why you do not need a license, how you are performing your services cross-border and what is the role of your white label partners or other entities within your group.

I know this may be going against the ways you’ve been doing things, but I have a question. Isn’t it more important to focus on how to do things differently so you can get different results?

If you’re a crypto services business ready to make a change and start creating the most effective compliance-related communications with Apple/Google App stores, your Banking or BaaS, or card-acquiring partners, then click the link and get our in-depth training showing you exactly how to do this.?

It is obviously concerning and inappropriate when a commercial company with monopolistic powers at its own absolute discretion enforces rules around the world and dictates who can and cannot facilitate payments with cryptocurrencies.?However, it is highly unlikely that a small startup can take on Apple. This means, there is a real need?for many startups to understand what are the real concerns of Apple and what would it take to satisfy them.

If Metamask can enable Apple Pay, there must be hope for the rest of us, right?

By the way, I am not suggesting you should not read the Guidelines. ??

Here they are from the Apple Appstore – give it another try:

Cryptocurrencies:

(i) Wallets: Apps may facilitate virtual currency storage, provided they are offered by developers enrolled as an organization.

(ii) Mining: Apps may not mine for cryptocurrencies unless the processing is performed off the device (e.g. cloud-based mining).

(iii) Exchanges: Apps may facilitate transactions or transmissions of cryptocurrency on an approved exchange, provided they are offered only in countries or regions where the app has appropriate licensing and permissions to provide a cryptocurrency exchange.

(iv) Initial Coin Offerings: Apps facilitating Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”), cryptocurrency futures trading, and other crypto-securities or quasi-securities trading must come from established banks, securities firms, futures commission merchants (“FCM”), or other approved financial institutions and must comply with all applicable law.

(v) Cryptocurrency apps may not offer currency for completing tasks, such as downloading other apps, encouraging other users to download, posting to social networks, etc.

In-App Purchase:

If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app, (by way of example: subscriptions, in-game currencies, game levels, access to premium content, or unlocking a full version), you must use in-app purchase. Apps may not use their own mechanisms to unlock content or functionality, such as license keys, augmented reality markers, QR codes, cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency wallets, etc. Apps and their metadata may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchase mechanisms other than in-app purchases, except as set forth in 3.1.3(a).

NFTs

Apps may use in-app purchases 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 purchase mechanisms other than in-app purchases.

* * *

These rules are intentionally vague and raise too many questions about geographies, types of licenses, partnerships, DeFi, and more.

This is why I am offering this workshop specifically designed to?provide practical case studies and clarifications for those FinTech and Crypto apps that find themselves increasingly frustrated, stuck, and unable to find common understanding with Apple reviewers.

AGENDA OF THIS MOST WANTED WORKSHOP – NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND:

• Appstore Guidelines
• Relevance of the in-app purchases
• What if your country does not have licensing regime requirements for crypto?
• What if you work with a white-label solution and do not actually touch crypto assets?
• What if you have a VASP license, but not for all countries where your services are offered?
• What about intra-EU transactions?
• What if the legal opinion you provided to Apple or Google is insufficient?

WHAT WE COVER:

This 90-min workshop will cover practical strategies on how you can respond to Apple and Android app stores in the following cases:

1. Why in-app purchases are relevant for your discussion with Apple
2. When your country does not require any crypto licensing, but Apple or Google requires evidence that you have appropriate licensing
3. When you operate under the white label partnership with a partner that has a license but may not have a license for all jurisdictions where your app is offered
4. When you do have a VASP license, but not for all countries where your app is offered
5. Cross-border compliance and reverse solicitation principles
6. EU/EEA provisions for the free movement of goods and services
7. How to structure your legal opinion, if you are required to produce one

BONUS: an additional workshop on the E2E crypto compliance and a template of the Blockchain Compliance Policy are included (so that you can use all of this as attachments and the evidence of your crypto compliance)!

SIGN UP HERE!