TL;DR
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Apple has previously blocked Web3 apps from accepting crypto payments because Apple Pay doesn’t play nice with blockchain – meaning Apple can’t handle the 30% discount.
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The good news is, there is a way for Web3 apps to accept payments on iPhone.
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The bad news is: the experience is clunky and expensive. Users buy ‘Spark’ tokens (non-crypto tokens, similar to Fortnite’s’V Bucks‘) → use their Spark tokens to purchase NFTs in-app.
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And that while Spark purchases are 30% more expensive (in USD equivalent) compared to crypto purchases. Either way, it’s a net positive for Web3!
Full story
Okay, we have good news and bad news…
The good news is: there is a way for Web3 apps to accept payments on iPhone.
Apple had previously blocked Web3 apps from accepting crypto payments because Apple Pay doesn’t play nicely with blockchain – meaning Apple can’t accept the 30% drop in revenue.
The bad news is: the experience is inconvenient and expensive.
The latter makes sense – if Apple is going to add a 30% surcharge to app makers, that cost will most likely be passed on to users.
The awkwardness of it all culminates in the currency conversion process…
It goes like this:
Users add a credit card to their account → buy ‘Spark’ tokens (these are non-crypto tokens, similar to Fortnite’s’V Bucks‘) → use their Spark tokens to purchase NFTs in-app.
And that while Spark purchases are 30% more expensive (in USD equivalent) compared to crypto purchases.
So Web3 apps can now monetize on iPhone (hurray!), but it’s going to be a messy user experience until Apple Pay accepts crypto payments by default – if that ever happens (boo!).
Either way, it’s a net positive for Web3!