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Apple Removes Bitcoin App 'Blockchain' From App Store

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Blockchain, a wallet app that allows users to send and receive the digital currency Bitcoin, has been removed from the App Store, according to Bloomberg.
Blockchain.info, the developer of the software, received an e-mail from Apple saying that the app was withdrawn "due to an unresolved issue," Nicolas Cary, chief executive officer of the London-based company, said.
Click to expand...
Cary told Bloomberg that he didn't understand the timing of the removal of the app, as it has been in the App Store for two years.

Late last year, Apple removed Bitcoin buying and trading platform Coinbase from the App Store and, more recently, Apple required the developers behind Gliph, a secure messaging platform that allowed Bitcoin transfers, to remove the transfer feature in order to keep its app on the App Store.

Blockchain's removal is another chapter in Apple's tumultuous relationship with Bitcoin apps. The company has told developers behind Bitcoin-related apps that they may not include content that "enables, facilitates or encourages an activity" that some countries deem illegal. App Store Review Guidelines require that apps be legal in all locations in which the app is available.

Article Link: Apple Removes Bitcoin App 'Blockchain' From App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/05/apple-removes-blockchain-app-store/
Z

Z400Racer37

macrumors 6502a
Feb 7, 2011
711
1,664
I'm sure there are tons of apps that would violate laws in some countries... Why do they have to discriminate this??
 
zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,169
17,689
Florida, USA
This is when the App Store model fails.

Company removes app, not because it can be harmful to the network or system, but because of political issues.

The App Store model works in many ways, but this is the big flaw that really needs to be fixed.
 
daniel4

daniel4

macrumors member
Oct 6, 2009
31
9
New York
This is so silly. This is like removing apps that transfer money like PayPal or Chase because US Dollars may be used to fund or facilitate criminal activity. This has to stop.
 
C

CPTMuggle

macrumors newbie
Jun 1, 2009
6
0
The coming months will be when we find out whether Apple is still a company that embraces innovation. Bitcoin represents financial innovation, and that will prove to be disruptive to the status quo. I'm hoping Apple pulls an "iTunes" and revolutionizes payment systems much like the $.99 song did to the music industry.

I don't know what their mobile payment plans are, but they need to seriously address the Bitcoin issue as it is only going to get more and more prevalent.
 
J

jdpruitt

Suspended
Oct 15, 2011
28
4
Apple, ya dun goofed.

"Here's to the crazy ones. They change things. They invent. They push the human race forward."

Let Apple know how you feel about this. This is a technology that could transform the world, especially developing nations with high transaction fees.
 
OriginalMacRat

OriginalMacRat

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2007
591
863
zorinlynx said:
This is when the App Store model fails.

Company removes app, not because it can be harmful to the network or system, but because of political issues.
Click to expand...

How terrible of Apple to have to follow the laws of countries where they do business.
 
C

ControlC

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2014
9
0
jdpruitt said:
Apple, ya dun goofed.

"Here's to the crazy ones. They change things. They invent. They push the human race forward."

Let Apple know how you feel about this. This is a technology that could transform the world, especially developing nations with high transaction fees.
Click to expand...

Kinda like how BitTorrent is great for downloading legal stuff. Bitcoins are for criminals to use.
 
A MacBook lover

A MacBook lover

Suspended
May 22, 2009
2,011
4,582
D.C.
OriginalMacRat said:
How terrible of Apple to have to follow the laws of countries where they do business.
Click to expand...

As someone who follows bitcoin, there isn't a single country where the currency (or any cryptocurrency) is illegal or outlawed.

Apple is also working on a major payment initiative...
 
seanjs

seanjs

macrumors member
Aug 10, 2010
70
25
Oceanside, CA
My guess is that it has more to do with their policy of not allowing purchases through apps unless those apps use Apple's payment system. Can't buy movies through Amazon Prime or Hulu? Can't buy digital music through Google Play or Amazon MP3? Or Kindle? Yep, this is about Apple wanting a piece of the transaction pie, sadly.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,560
6,059
ControlC said:
Kinda like how BitTorrent is great for downloading legal stuff. Bitcoins are for criminals to use.
Click to expand...

BitTorret is great for downloading legal stuff. Blizzard heavily utilizes BitTorrets for distributing their games, patches, and videos. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if other companies that need to distribute massive files to their customers also use it.

BitCoins are a great international currency that doesn't depend on any laws set by any government. That, actually, may be the part leading to the legal troubles: how do you tax it?
 
MH01

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
ControlC said:
Kinda like how BitTorrent is great for downloading legal stuff. Bitcoins are for criminals to use.
Click to expand...

You forgot to mention anyone using a jail broken iphone is stealing from the App Store... Pffft! Open your mind bro !!!
 
cclloyd

cclloyd

macrumors 68000
Oct 26, 2011
1,760
147
Alpha Centauri A
This is weird, because they had a dumbed down version to make sure it could stay in the appstore. Afaik, you could only view your wallet, not make or receive anything. It didn't even give the QR code for it.

So why would they remove that? This is why the full version on the Cydia store is better.
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
CPTMuggle said:
The coming months will be when we find out whether Apple is still a company that embraces innovation. Bitcoin represents financial innovation, and that will prove to be disruptive to the status quo. I'm hoping Apple pulls an "iTunes" and revolutionizes payment systems much like the $.99 song did to the music industry.

I don't know what their mobile payment plans are, but they need to seriously address the Bitcoin issue as it is only going to get more and more prevalent.
Click to expand...

Bitcoin is a waste of energy. People buy expensive hardware and waste tons of energy to create "bit coins" which have no value except that assigned by the "greater fool" theory. (To remind people: You would be a fool to buy bitcoin, but you hope that a greater fool will come and buy it off you for more money).

Anything to get rid of bitcoin or reduce their usage should be appreciated. Especially a company like Apple that is proud of their green credentials should absolutely do everything to stomp on bitcoin.
 
ulyssesric

ulyssesric

macrumors 6502
Oct 7, 2006
250
204
Amacfa said:
As someone who follows bitcoin, there isn't a single country where the currency (or any cryptocurrency) is illegal or outlawed.
Apple is also working on a major payment initiative...
Click to expand...

FYI, Bitcoin is banned in China and Thailand. It's illegal to trade, import or export Bitcoins in Thailand. China government is not so extreme; it's not illegal to hold Bitcoins in China, but the you still can't trade with Bitcoin either.
 
LV426

LV426

macrumors 68000
Jan 22, 2013
1,835
2,262
gnasher729 said:
Bitcoin is a waste of energy. People buy expensive hardware and waste tons of energy to create "bit coins" which have no value except that assigned by the "greater fool" theory. (To remind people: You would be a fool to buy bitcoin, but you hope that a greater fool will come and buy it off you for more money).

Anything to get rid of bitcoin or reduce their usage should be appreciated. Especially a company like Apple that is proud of their green credentials should absolutely do everything to stomp on bitcoin.
Click to expand...

It's a currency, albeit a virtual one. It has no more intrinsic value in itself than other artificial currencies (such as the dollar and the pound). When you dig down deep into what the value of money really means, the whole system degrades into meaningless nonsense.

For example, when you look in your wallet to find nice crisp bank notes, you could be forgiven for thinking that someone worked hard somewhere, or produced something useful, in order for those notes to mysteriously appear.

But you'd be wrong. The overwhelming majority of money in circulation (well over 90%) is plain and simple debt, conjured into existence by banks when people take out loans. The banks don't have all that money to lend, not by a long shot, but they are permitted to manufacture nearly the whole loan amount out of thin air.

It's a funny old world. I wish I could be allowed to get up to the same trick myself.
 
N

numlock

macrumors 68000
Mar 13, 2006
1,590
88
team apple - world police

when can we expect this one to hit piratebay ... sorry i meant theaters?
 
B

beosound3200

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2010
684
0
LV426 said:
It's a currency, albeit a virtual one. It has no more intrinsic value in itself than other artificial currencies (such as the dollar and the pound). When you dig down deep into what the value of money really means, the whole system degrades into meaningless nonsense.

For example, when you look in your wallet to find nice crisp bank notes, you could be forgiven for thinking that someone worked hard somewhere, or produced something useful, in order for those notes to mysteriously appear.

But you'd be wrong. The overwhelming majority of money in circulation (well over 90%) is plain and simple debt, conjured into existence by banks when people take out loans. The banks don't have all that money to lend, not by a long shot, but they are permitted to manufacture nearly the whole loan amount out of thin air.

It's a funny old world. I wish I could be allowed to get up to the same trick myself.
Click to expand...

Haha you have no idea what youre talking about

Ever heard of gdp? Or inflation?

The existance of money and the amount of it is connected to what?
 
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