Apple declares war on Bitcoin, but it’s a war that it’s destined to lose

From SiliconANGLE:

The world’s most valuable company has just launched another salvo in its war against the cryptocurrency, banning the popular Bitcoin wallet Blockchain from its app store without giving any clear reason why, according to a report in Wired.com.

With blockchain no longer available on the app store, it means that iPhone and iPad users are left with no native Bitcoin wallet option to send and receive the cryptocurrency quickly and easily, following Apple’s earlier decisions to ban Coinbase and CoinJar, reports Coindesk.

Apple’s justification for removing Blockchain? In an email to Blockchain CEO Nicholas Cary, all it would say is that the app was removed “due to an unresolved issue,” reports Wired:

“Some believe that Apple may be dumping bitcoin wallets because of the emerging, somewhat confusing international regulations surrounding bitcoin. But like others, Blockchain’s Cary argues that his app was pulled because Apple sees bitcoin as a potential competitor. “I think that Apple is positioning itself to take on mobile payments in a way they haven’t described to the public and they’re being anti-competitive.”

Blockchain followed up with this scathingly critical response to Apple on its official blog:

“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.”

“[The app] had no customer complaints, and a broad user base. The only thing that has changed is that bitcoin has become competitive to Apple’s own payment system. By removing the Blockchain app, the only bitcoin wallet application on the App store, Apple has eliminated competition using their monopolistic position in the market in a heavy handed manner.” … Read more.