Apple's 30% Tax on iOS Is Illegal, Judge Affirms—And That Could Be Good for Crypto, NFTs
In a decision with potentially major implications for NFT and crypto builders, a United States federal appeals court has ruled that Apple violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by forbidding app developers from using any alternative payment method besides those of the tech giant’s own App Store, which levies a 30% fee on most transactions.
The ruling, made late Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, came as part of a re-evaluation of a 2020 lawsuit filed by Fortnite creator Epic Games against Apple over the tech giant's alleged monopoly in the mobile games market. Apple mostly prevailed in that lawsuit in 2021, as well as in Monday’s decision, with judges in both instances finding that Apple does not have a monopoly over gaming apps.
But the victories came with a major caveat. The case’s initial judge said in 2021 that by preventing app developers from directing customers to alternative payment methods, Apple was stifling fair competition. Monday’s panel upheld that finding. Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that “Apple prevailed” broadly, but championed Epic’s one win on Monday.
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