Apple vs NFT – the opening of the “walled garden” in Europe
for a moment apple company It has become a symbol of the struggle between Web2 and its new version, which is supposed to be (more) decentralized. Web3. At the center of this conflict is his internal policy “walled garden”. And in the opposing camp, NFT projects refuses to bow down to this organized racket. Because its shutdown strategy is to shut down and tax everything that directly or indirectly affects its ecosystem. But that may be a thing of the past due to upcoming European regulations.
There is a war between Apple and the cryptocurrency industry. I recently led one of the co-founders of the MetaMask wallet to encourage them to abandon their ecosystem due to “monopoly abuse”. Because in the “closed garden” of this GAFAM giant, the rules are simple. Everything connecting its universe through the App Store is subject to a 30% tax.. At least a heresy in the Web3 universe found in this consensus.
But this could be the case must be done to change. And it has more power than the likes of Apple, which is currently in bad shape by European regulations. A sort of collateral damage that could make this area unfriendly to anything crypto-related, The new eldorado of the NFT sector. Because installing iOS apps from external sources can become the norm.
Apple was forced to open its “walled garden” in Europe
Society Apple Inc. it tries to present this internal paradigm shift as a decision, but it is not. Indeed, this GAFAM giant will have to eat its bottom line in this currently European-only business. Reason : new local regulations inconsistent with its closure policy. And so changes will be made in response to the European Union’s law on digital markets. The latter requires technology companies to fully comply with its requirements by 2024.
This effectively means that Apple’s ecosystem will have to open up to download apps from sources outside of its own App Store. And he won’t be able to apply the 30% commission racket to them. A reality that applies to both iPhones and iPads. But its implementation should not happen before next fall, that is, a software update iOS 17. Because Apple is clearly in no rush to comply with these new requirements. Although he claims can extend this function to other areas “depending on whether these countries adopt similar rules”.
Europe – the new Eldorado for the NFT market?
The bans of some sometimes become the opening of others. And in this case, this integration commitment to Apple could be a good one It is a wide gate to the hitherto locked ecosystem for the NFT sector. Also, at least partially, until then, the ability to integrate a payment option in cryptocurrencies is completely blocked.
But that last point would probably go some way to underestimating Apple and its desire to rule everything. Though the company announces that it is considering the possibility of “allowing third-party applications to use its payment infrastructure.”, according to Bloomberg’s article on the subject. It’s a work in progress, so it doesn’t automatically rule out cryptocurrencies… but without mentioning them as a possible option.
But in the end, Does Apple really have a choice? The pathetic attachment to the internal logic of the “walled garden” can ultimately turn into scorched-garden politics. More and more Web3 projects and players decided to turn away from it forever. And after a while No longer offering them on the App Store or blocking certain features may be a problem for him and no longer for them.. A case to watch…
