In May 2025, Apple made significant adjustments in the fields of cryptocurrency application rules and privacy protection due to dual pressures from the law and the market. This transformation is both a response to the development of the encryption industry and exposes the complex balance tech giants must navigate between national security and user rights.
1. App Store deregulation: The 'breaking down' opportunity for the crypto ecosystem
After a US court ruled that Apple violated antitrust injunctions, it was forced to adjust its App Store policies, allowing developers to guide users to complete transactions through external payment systems without charging a commission of up to 30%. This change is particularly crucial for cryptocurrency and NFT applications:
1. Lower payment costs: Previously, Apple charged a 30% commission on in-app purchases, leading to high costs in high-frequency trading scenarios such as encrypted games and NFT markets. Under the new regulations, developers can freely link to third-party payment channels, reducing operating costs by over 60%.
2. Breakthrough in functional limitations: Web3 applications (such as NFT trading platforms) could previously only display products and could not directly guide purchases. Now, users can jump to external markets to complete transactions through in-app buttons, significantly improving user experience and conversion rates.
3. Innovation incentives: The lowered barriers to entry for mobile encrypted games, DeFi wallets, and other applications may give rise to a 'generational consumer crypto bull market,' such as (Fortnite) returning to the Apple Store and integrating NFT features, attracting traditional gaming users into the crypto ecosystem.
However, Apple still has multiple restrictions: prohibiting in-app mining, initial coin offerings (ICO), and task reward tokens, and the new rules only apply to the US market, while other markets remain bound by the old policies.
2. The 'double-edged attack' on privacy encryption: The UK backdoor incident
In contrast to the relaxed payment rules, there is controversy over Apple being forced to delete the iCloud end-to-end encryption feature in the UK due to government pressure:
1. Government intervention: The UK invoked the Investigatory Powers Act, requiring Apple to create a backdoor for iCloud data to cooperate with law enforcement. Apple refused to compromise and chose to remove the 'Advanced Data Protection (ADP)' feature for UK users, exposing users' photos, backups, and other data to potential risks.
2. Global privacy concerns: This move has been criticized as a 'significant regression of digital rights,' potentially encouraging other countries to follow suit, undermining global standards for encryption technology. US legislators and privacy organizations have voiced opposition, emphasizing that 'backdoors are vulnerabilities' that can be abused or attacked.
3. Conflicting corporate stance: Apple has made concessions on payment rules but stands firm on privacy, reflecting its balancing strategy between market interests and user trust. For instance, it previously established a privacy benchmark by refusing the FBI's request to unlock an iPhone, and this UK's incident again highlights its 'no compromise' stance.
3. Industry impact and future challenges
1. Short-term benefits for the crypto market: The relaxation of app store rules in the US, combined with the SEC's termination of the investigation into OpenSea, may drive the revival of the NFT market and increase on-chain activities for ETH.
2. Acceleration of mobile adoption: After reducing payment friction, more mainstream users may conveniently access encrypted products through iPhones, such as scanning to pay with USDC for shopping or linking on-chain virtual cards to Apple Pay.
3. Long-term risks remain: Apple may indirectly restrict encryption applications through the review process, and the regulatory pressure exposed by the UK privacy incident may spread to other regions, threatening the decentralized nature of encryption technology.
Conclusion
Apple's adjustment of 'encryption rules' is essentially a game of power and freedom: loosening payment rules injects vitality into the industry, while privacy compromises sound the alarm for security. In 2025, whether the encrypted economy can break through depends not only on developers' innovation but also on the vigilance against the invisible shackles of regulation and tech giants. As Epic's CEO said, 'True freedom must be built on a foundation of frictionless and non-monopolistic frameworks.'
