Coinbase Blocks NFT Transfers on iOS Devices After Apple Asks for 30% Cut of NFT Gas Fees

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, has halted non-fungible token (NFT) transfers on iOS devices after Apple asked for a 30% cut of NFT gas fees.

In a Twitter thread, Coinbase said the tech giant blocked their last app release, forcing them to disable the NFT feature. “Apple’s claim is that the gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system, so that they can collect 30% of the gas fee,” the company said.

Coinbase added that this is not even possible due to the nature of blockchain and NFTs. “Apple’s proprietary In-App Purchase system does not support crypto so we couldn’t comply even if we tried.”

Another tweet from the account read: “The biggest impact from this policy change is on iPhone users that own NFTs – if you hold an NFT in a wallet on an iPhone, Apple just made it a lot harder to transfer that NFT to other wallets, or gift it to friends or family.”

As reported, Apple recently updated its guidelines for NFTs. While the tech giant did not announce an outright ban, it said NFTs can’t be used to unlock additional features or content.

Furthermore, under the reviewed updates, the tech firm has upheld its 30% Apple Tax on in-app crypto purchases and peer-to-peer NFT trading despite numerous calls from the crypto community to exempt it.

Creators and marketplaces have long balked at the fees, choosing to limit in-app NFT functionality rather than lose a massive slice of revenue.

Every time a user makes a transaction on the Ethereum network, even when transferring an asset like NFT to a different wallet, the user has to pay a fee known as gas. These fees are required for the network to work. But they are more complex than a flat fee and cannot be controlled by a single entity.

Gas prices, measured in Gwei but paid in ETH, vary depending on Ethereum network traffic and the efficiency of the smart contract code. And more advanced users can choose to pay more to get their transactions closer to the front of the queue.

Coinbase’s Apple battle comes amid new Twitter owner Elon Musk questioning the same 30% in-app fee policy and claiming that Apple has threatened to remove Twitter from the app store.

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