Apple bans using NFTs to unlock additional features and content in apps

Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines on Monday to ban customers from using NFTs to unlock additional features or content on the platform.

The policy update marks the first time Apple has laid out specific rules for NFTs in its App Store guideline.

Apple now bans apps from ‘creating buttons, external links or other calls to action’ that offers access to NFT owners, or from linking their users to third-party sites where they can buy, sell and mint outside the Apple ecosystem in a move that is deemed as evading ‘Apple Tax.’

Instead, Apple wants users to use their apps to make purchases.

‘Apps may use in-app purchase to sell and sell services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring,”  the new guidelines read. ‘Apps may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functionality within the app.’

It also follows the tech giant’s recent decision to reject calls to exempt NFTs from its 30% ‘Apple Tax’ on in-app purchases. This was heavily criticized for preventing marketplaces and creators from its ecosystems and abandoning NFT integrations.