Bitcoin-based social app Damus has been banned from the Apple App Store, and Jack Dorsey is unhappy.
The Block CEO Jack Dorsey has harshly criticized Apple CEO Tim Cook for seemingly not supporting Bitcoin payments according to the App Store’s policies.
His comments come after Apple recently confirmed that it would remove Bitcoin-based social app Damus from its marketplace.
Apple's Blow to Bitcoin
Damus is a decentralized social media application used to interact with Nostr, a Bitcoin-based protocol for exchanging information and messages in a censorship-resistant manner.
The app includes a tipping feature called “zaps” that lets users tip each other in Bitcoin over the Lightning Network. The exchange of value is entirely peer-to-peer, and Damus does not take any fees from such transactions.
However, the feature violated Apple's terms of service two weeks ago. The company said it could allow optional tipping and donations, but not payments required in exchange for digital content. "They must use in-app purchases in accordance with guideline 3.1.1," the company said.
Damus refused to remove this feature from its app, and tried to explain that zaps did not "unlock" any digital content for users. However, it received the same message from Apple again on Monday, and admitted that it would be removed from the App Store.
“The solution they suggest is to use Apple Pay,” Damus wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “Of course I’ll use Apple Pay when it supports censorship-resistant peer-to-peer payments to anyone in the world. How about starting with peer-to-peer?”
Jack Dorsey responds
Jack Dorsey quickly defended Damus after hearing the news on Monday. "Tips do not unlock content," he reiterated the company's own argument.
On Tuesday, he singled out Apple's CEO for criticism:
He added, “Removal from the App Store is due to the ability to tip everyone in the world without bank, payment card or government permission.”
Dorsey has previously praised Nostr as one of two “truly large-scale censorship-resistant technologies” alongside bitcoin itself. Dorsey, who remains Twitter’s CEO, helped enable a tipping feature on the platform that incorporates bitcoin lightning tips similar to those used by Nostr.
Tim Cook has not shown any interest in adding Bitcoin to Apple's balance sheet, but has confirmed that he personally owns some Bitcoin.