Apple warned the decentralized social media app Damus for its feature that mediates Bitcoin payments and said that if it is not removed, the app will be removed from the App Store.
The platform, whose interface is very similar to Twitter, introduced an innovation called Zaps to attract more users.
With this innovation, a share gave its owner a Bitcoin reward in the form of satoshi according to the interaction it received.
Apple stated that this feature violates its own policy rules and that users can use this feature to sell digital content, and stated that the feature should be removed within 14 days, otherwise the application will be deleted from the App Store.
Damus had integrated layer-2 protocols for direct Bitcoin payments and tips through the platform.
Apple used the following statements in the warning text it sent:
"We've noticed that your app allows creators to be tipped through a mechanism other than in-app purchases. While tips are optional, if this is linked to buying digital content, it must be redeemed via in-app purchase as per policy rule 3.1.1."
Speaking to The Block, Damus said they would likely have to remove the Zaps feature to stay on the developer App Store. Damus developers stated that this decision will affect the future of many applications that plan to work with Bitcoin payments.
Damus was processing Bitcoin rewards over the Lightning network very quickly and with no transaction fees.