According to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Apple’s App Store policies have hindered the company’s product plans. He blamed Apple for restricting features from its app and being unfriendly to the crypto business overall.
Brian Armstrong Curses Apple
On a recent episode of the Superstream podcast, Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong slammed Apple for potential antitrust issues.
Armstrong appeared on the Superstream podcast on April 20 to discuss cryptocurrency, entrepreneurship, and the current state of Coinbase, the firm he co-founded.
Before criticizing Apple, he implied that crypto investors would one day be able to use “crypto-compatible” devices with special hardware features.
He claimed that “Apple hasn’t played really well with crypto until now” claiming that the business had rejected many of the features they wanted in the app but that Apple wouldn’t allow it.
“Apple hasn’t played really well with crypto so far, they’ve actually banned a bunch of features that we want to have in the app, but they won’t allow it – so there are potential antitrust issues, ” They said.
When asked whether Coinbase would ever release its own hardware wallet, Armstrong disclosed the information. He claimed that the company already has a co-branded hardware wallet with Ledger, but the two big mobile operating systems need to expand their ecosystem of products to include crypto.
Related Articles | Here’s Why Apple Removed Trust Wallet From Its App Store
Crypto-compatible phones are good for crypto
When asked whether Coinbase will be creating its own cryptocurrency hardware wallet, Armstrong said he doesn’t think most users will have a separate wallet just for bitcoin.
He says that most people would prefer to use something built into their phone. However, he believes that big technology — specifically, Apple — doesn’t allow the functionality that would be needed to make a user-friendly phone-based wallet possible.
While Armstrong hasn’t specified which features are banned, he does warn that crypto-compatible phones will be required in the future and could become popular.
BTC/USD falls below $40k. Source: TradingView
This isn’t the first time Armstrong has expressed his displeasure with Apple. In 2020, he noted that Apple’s App Store policies hindered bitcoin creation.
While Coinbase may not be able to get all the functionality they want, Coinbase users have access to a number of Apple-specific features.
The crypto-based Coinbase Card got approved for use in Apple Wallet in June 2021. Users can use the card to spend cryptocurrency as cash anywhere in the world.
Coinbase also accepts Apple Pay for cryptocurrency purchases.
Related Articles | Apple CEO Tim Cook Keeps Bitcoin and Ethereum as Part of Diversified Portfolio
Featured image from Getty Images, Chart from TradingView.com
