Apple Kills The Only iOS-Compatible Bitcoin Trading App

Apple has removed the Blockchain application from its App Store – the last remaining way to trade and store Bitcoins on iOS. Bitcoin users are considering a move away from the iPhone.

The company has never issued an official statement on virtual currencies, but it has blocked any and all apps that enable users to check their balance or pay for goods and services in Bitcoin.

Apple has faced an instant backlash from customers, with Bitcoin enthusiasts threatening to switch from iPhones to Android devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 due to be launched at Mobile World Congress later this month.

No Bitcoins for Apple

Bitcoin is a decentralised cryptocurrency especially popular among people interested in keeping their transactions secret. It is not tied to any real money, but traded on various electronic exchanges to establish its price.

Despite initial approval from organisations like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, many businesses still do not trust Bitcoin. The virtual currency is not regulated, and experts say it could be experiencing a speculative bubble. The anonymous nature of Bitcoin also makes it prefect for money laundering.

On Wednesday, Apple removed the Blockchain app, available on its store since 2012. Blockchain CEO Nicolas Cary told Wired that the company provided no details on why it made this decision, referencing a misterious “unresolved issue”.

As the only app to enable Bitcoin transactions on iOS, Blockchain has around 120,000 users. It lets them look at exchange rates, buy and transfer Bitcoins, and back up their wallets to external storage. A total of one million people use Blockchain on all platforms, leading it to call itself the world’s favourite Bitcoin wallet.

Users who have already installed the app will be able to continue using it, but new users will not be able to download Blockchain from the App Store, and developers will not be able to issue any more updates.

Apple has a long history of stopping Bitcoin-related apps from entering its ‘walled garden’. Bloomberg reports that in November, the company blacklisted a similar app from Coinbase, and the same fate previously befell apps called BitPack and CoinJar. Gliph, another app that allowed to trade Bitcoins, was forced to disable transactions to remain on iOS.

It is thought that Apple is concerned about the status of the virtual currency. The company’s guidelines require apps to be legal in all territories that they’re offered in, and Bitcoin’s legality is being questioned by the governments of China and India.

“These actions by Apple once again demonstrate the anti-competitive and capricious nature of the App Store policies that are clearly focused on preserving Apple’s monopoly on payments rather than based on any consideration of the needs and desires of their users,” said Cary on the Blockchain blog.

Applications to monitor the price of Bitcoin or access related news without engaging in financial transactions are still available on the iOS App Store.

Blockchain is currently in the process of implementing an HTML5 version of its mobile wallet that will work on any smartphone or tablet device with an Internet connection.

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