Filip Brož In February this year Apple has pulled the latest Bitcoin trading app from the App Store, which was called Blockchain. This decision provoked sharp criticism of Apple and many speculations about what is behind it and what it wants to achieve.
However, the situation changed during the ongoing WWDC in San Francisco, when almost without noticing Apple changed its rules in App Store Review Guidelines. A California company that has not yet had a negative attitude towards virtual currency, edited item 11.17 in the purchase and currency section, where it now literally states:
Apple may allow the transfer of approved virtual currencies, provided that it is conducted in compliance with all state and federal laws in the countries where the Application operates.
This means that Apple still has the right to reject Bitcoin apps on the App Store, but developers now have a significantly better chance of getting their apps through the approval process than they did earlier this year. So Coinbase, Blockchain, and Fancy apps may be waiting to return to the App Store. Until now, only applications informing about the popular virtual currency appeared in it, those that traded with it were removed. However, there has been a wave of resentment, especially in the Bitcoin community, and Apple has now opened its floodgates. However, there still remains the problem of accepting Bitcoin in different jurisdictions, where virtual currencies are far from being the same opinion around the world.
What is behind Apple's change of stance is unclear, but according to various analysts, it is possible that Apple wants to develop its own virtual currency in the future, and thus Bitcoin will become its main competitor.
