What you need to know
- The CEO of Coinbase has called out Apple.
- Brian Armstrong says the company has banned "a bunch of features" they would like to use.
- Armstrong has previously said Coinbase wants to become the Apple of cryptocurrency.
CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong says that Apple has banned features of crypto apps on its App Store which could be seen as a potential antitrust issue.
Armstrong spoke to the Superteam podcast about his and Coinbase's journey, its launch in India, and future plans and roadmaps.
He hinted that one-day crypto investors might one day be able to make use of "crypto-compatible" smartphones with specific hardware features built-in, before going on to call out Apple.
He said that "Apple so far has not really played nice with crypto", stating the company had banned a bunch of features that they would like to have in the app but that the company wouldn't allow.
Armstrong didn't expand specifically on any such features or Apple's specific policy towards them. He has previously hailed Apple's growth and how "it empowered developers and gave mobile users an easy way to access new innovative apps." In comments last year he said that he wanted Coinbase to become the Apple of cryptocurrency.
Crypto smartphones of the future would likely have a leaning toward security and better integration for payments. This week, one crypto investor reported losing some $650,000 in NFTs and crypto after handing over his Apple ID verification code to someone posing as Apple over the phone. This information was used to reset his Apple ID password, giving access to iCloud keychain including his MetaMask vault password.
