Court ruling challenges Apple's App Store policy

In what seems like a surprising win for NFTs, a US federal court recently ruled that Apple's 30% tax on in-app NFT purchases is unlawful. 

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued the decision late Monday as part of a re-evaluation of a 2020 lawsuit filed by Fortnite creator Epic Games against Apple over the firm's alleged monopoly in the mobile gaming market.  

The court upheld a lower court decision from 2021, stating that Apple's anti-steering provision has harmed Epic. This anti-steering provision is part of Apple's policies that prohibits iOS developers from using external payment methods via mechanisms like in-app links. The presiding judge stated that the global iPhone maker's stance had stifled competition, leading to stalled developments in the NFT space. 

According to reports, Apple's strategy has raised the costs of Epic's subsidiary apps on App Store, deterring other users from becoming Epic Games consumers. While the court has ruled in favor of Apple on most issues, the company did lose one claim and had to allow mobile devs to place external links within their apps. This will allow users to make external purchases and could disrupt how NFTs are sold on App Store. 

In response to the ruling, Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney said that "Apple prevailed" broadly but highlighted Epic's one win on Monday. 

"Fortunately, the court's positive decision rejecting Apple's anti-steering provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there. We're working on next steps," wrote Sweeny in a tweet. 

According to Bloomberg, Apple is now "considering further review" of the decision. If the company doesn't appeal, it will be easier for developers to create and sell NFTs on iOS devices.