Apple removes bitcoin wallet app without warning

[Galdorf]

Seems Apple did something which i think is very bad they removed last bitcoin app from iphone, my guess is they were not making any more money on it so they removed it without warning.
Most people were not happy and made a video of them smashing their iphone to bits to get a Nexus 5 that is more bitcoin friendly.
I don't own any apple products and this is one of the reasons.

 

[Bryce W]

I was wondering why they would do this so I did some Googling, I suspect this is the most probable reason:

Within the U.S., any company that enables Bitcoin sending and receiving is involved in the highly regulated money transmission business. There are lots of rules around money transmission because the feds want to prevent money laundering, like this. A company involved in sending money has to be licensed with the Department of Treasury’s financial crimes department FinCEN (which requires them to monitor their customers and transactions for anything suspicious) and, arguably, with every single state — a laborious and expensive process that many Bitcoin businesses haven’t completed yet.

Apple is notoriously conservative when it comes to their app store (Google “Apple store” and “porn”). Wary of the legal murkiness around Bitcoin, Apple appears to be taking the stance of banning any app involved in virtual currency money transmission. I bet if one of these companies sent Apple proof they were certified with FinCEN and every single state in the U.S. as a money transmission business, they could get their app approved, though there’s still the problem of Bitcoin’s legal murkiness in the rest of the world. Olympics-bound iPhone users for example probably shouldn’t be using it, as Russia frowns on Bitcoin for now.

Source: Forbes

 

[Galdorf]

I find it funny when they say bitcoins are used for illegal stuff what about US money??? there are more illegal transactions in US dollars than any other currency.
My guess is the banks want this to go away with bitcoin there is no need for a bank and banks don't want this to happen.

 

[Kurmugeon]

I was wondering why they would do this so I did some Googling, I suspect this is the most probable reason:

So bitcoins are popular enough now that they might be used for (significant) money laundering?
Is anyone here even using bitcoins yet? I've heard of them, but have never done a transaction with them. Am I that far behind?

 

[Galdorf]

Tiger Direct in the US now accepts bitcoin more are switching over can you imagine the amount of money the banks would loose if most of the businesses switched over to bitcoin wallets.
The amount of money they charge for depositing large amounts of cash are crazy they would loose so much money.
Malwarebytes also accepts bitcoin banks are lobbing the government to get rid of bitcoin.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/tigerdirect-bitcoin-bitpay-payments,25859.html

 

[Kurmugeon]

Tiger Direct in the US now accepts bitcoin more are switching over can you imagine the amount of money the banks would loose if most of the businesses switched over to bitcoin wallets.
The amount of money they charge for depositing large amounts of cash are crazy they would loose so much money.
Malwarebytes also accepts bitcoin banks are lobbing the government to get of bitcoin.

I would agree that the US Federal government would discourage any competition since they can't print bitcoins at will like they do dollars. I just didn't think bitcoins were anywhere near critical mass.

 

[Bryce W]

I find it funny when they say bitcoins are used for illegal stuff what about US money??? there are more illegal transactions in US dollars than any other currency.
My guess is the banks want this to go away with bitcoin there is no need for a bank and banks don't want this to happen.

For the record, I support Bitcoin.
Two things are at play here. The government/banks dont like it because they cant control it.

And Apple are covering their ass because they get sued for much less, such as toddlers doing in-app purchases on their parents iDevice.

 

[aweston]

That's why I pretty much ditched Apple. I'm so tired of them telling me what I can and can't do with my devices. I've owned half a dozen iPhones and an iPad. I keep the iPad because it's jailbroken and I don't need to suck Apple's teat to do the work I need a tablet for.

I've moved over to iDroid and Crackberry. iDroid is fun and can do so much more without turning the unit into a space heater and killing the battery in an hour. Crackberry is just a rock solid and secure business tool with unparalleled one-handed use and great battery life.

Apple is old, stale news. I'm done with their rubbish and Tim Cook is useless.