Even though Apple is accustomed to charging a fee, some customers have complained that the company’s sales charge is “grotesquely exorbitant.”
The IT giant’s decision to charge a 30% commission on nonfungible tokens (NFT) sold through apps on its marketplace. This has angered NFT developers and others, given Apple is treating NFT transactions in the same way as standard in-app purchases.
Google Play charges the same 30% commission from its in-app store sales.
Apple company allows sell and purchase of NFTS
Tech blogger Florian Mueller referred to Apple’s “app tax” on NFT sales as “abusive but constant.” While Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, claimed on Twitter that Apple is “killing” another emerging technology that “may rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment business.”
People have criticized the commission rate as being “grotesquely pricey,” particularly compared to typical NFT marketplace commissions, which are close to 2.5%.
This is not the only time Apple has exploited other companies on commissions. Epic Games’ main game Fortnite was removed from the App Store in August 2020 due to the publisher’s attempt to monetize in-game transactions without paying Apple’s fees, the company took legal action.
Due to the high commissions, NFT marketplaces on the App Store apparently have limited utility. Additionally, given the turbulence of cryptocurrency markets, the requirement to perform transactions in US dollars rather than cryptocurrency presents a risk.
The company, however, appears to have no plans to stop using hefty commissions
Some popular NFTS, such as Solana NFT market Magic Eden withdrew their service from the Software Store. They refused Apple’s offer to reduce its commission to 15% even though the app is still available there as of this writing.
The action of Apple’s support for NFTs is being embraced by few. According to Gabriel Leydon, CEO of Web3 game company Limit Break, the decision “could place an ETH wallet in every single mobile game enrolling 1B+ users!”
Leydon also stated he would “HAPPILY offer Apple a 30% cut of a free NFT.”
