Apple’s App Store policies, according to Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, have impeded the company’s product plan, blaming Apple of prohibiting features from their app and overall being unfriendly to the bitcoin business. “Apple hasn’t really played nice with crypto,” Armstrong added. “They’ve actually blocked a number of things that we’d like to have in the app, but they just won’t allow it — so there may be antitrust concerns there.”
Armstrong made the disclosure during a podcast interview he had while in India earlier this month. The co-founder of the publicly traded business highlighted Apple’s impact and suggested that smartphones may soon need to have crypto-specific hardware capabilities in an edition of Superteam Podcast that aired this week. “There will have to be crypto-compatible phones,” he continued, “which I believe might become extremely popular in the future.”
A request for comment from Apple was not returned. When asked if Coinbase would ever release its own hardware wallet, Armstrong revealed the information. He said that the firm already has a co-branded hardware wallet with Ledger, but that the two big mobile operating systems need to expand their ecosystem of products to include crypto. The CEO and co-founder of bitcoin exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, has chastised Apple for removing specific functionality from the app, obstructing the company’s development path. The CEO accused Apple of being unfriendly to the crypto business in an episode of Superteam Podcast with Indian YouTuber Tanmay Bhatt.
“Apple hasn’t really played nice with crypto,” Armstrong added. “They’ve actually blocked a number of things that we’d like to have in the app, but they just won’t allow it — so there may be antitrust concerns there.” Smartphone manufacturers should start planning and developing crypto-specific hardware features, according to the cryptopreneur. “There will have to be crypto-compatible phones,” he continued, “which I believe might become extremely popular in the future.”
When asked if Coinbase will ever release its own hardware wallet, Armstrong responded that the business already has several co-branded hardware wallets with Ledger. However, he believes that the two most popular mobile operating systems, Android and iOS, should expand their ecosystem of devices to include crypto.
