Apple has halted an update to the Zeus Bitcoin wallet over what it claims are licensing violations. The stated reason was that the app facilitated the transmission of virtual currencies but was not a financial institution or exchange.
Apple reasoned that the “app facilitates the transmission of a virtual currency but was not submitted by a corresponding exchange or recognized financial institution.”
Apple Rejection of Zeus Bitcoin Wallet Questionable
Apple’s rejection of the wallet is questionable because it is a non-custodial wallet. As such, it does not hold funds or customers’ private keys in a centralized fashion. The classification of money transmitters applies to custodial wallets like those offered by Binance and Coinbase.
Legal experts hold the opinion that the classification is wrong, and they expect to overturn it.
Zeus is a non-custodial wallet that makes use of the Lightning Network, offering lower cost and high-speed transactions. The wallet is built on TypeScript and React Native and is also available on Google Play.
Apple Also Threatened to Delist Damus
Apple has taken similar stances on other apps in the crypto and decentralized tech space. This includes the decentralized social network Damus. The company threatened to delist the Nostr-based app because of a Bitcoin tipping feature. This action set off widespread condemnation from the crypto community.
The decentralized social media platform that Apple threatened to delist is Damus, often referred to as a Twitter-killer. Check out our explainer on this Nostr-based app here:
Jack Dorsey commented on the incident, stating that tipping on posts was not selling digital content but a form of feedback. Damus must remove the corresponding button from its interface, but the ‘zaps’ feature is still allowed on profiles.
Crypto Community Reacts Harshly
The crypto community has reacted strongly, and many prominent figures were chiming in with their thoughts on social media. Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino was among them, saying that “being non custodial should be easy to push back, since the product is just a software interface.”
The Lightning Network Interface shared the same opinion, explaining that they should approve non-custodial wallets because there’s a specific exception in the same section. It added that there were a lot of wallets in the app store. ZenGo CEO Ouriel Ohayon also mentioned that collaborating with the review team could easily resolve the incident.
Zeus founder Evan Kaloudis also stated what others were pointing out, that the wallet not having an exchange facility is a reason why it would be resolved quickly.
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