Take, for example, Apple’s recent U.S. App Store guideline revisions enabling app developers to directly link visitors to external payment systems. This amendment, passed in May 2025, is the biggest victory yet for proponents of opening up Apple’s digital marketplace. The crypto community has widely cheered this move, looking forward to easier access to NFTs, wallets and decentralized finance (DeFi) apps.
The updated policy enables U.S. developers to incorporate buttons or hyperlinks within their apps that direct users to external websites for digital acquisitions. This move bypasses Apple’s typical gatekeeping. Now, Apple will no longer require in-app purchases to pass through its payment system, which often charges a commission fee. For the first time developers can use third-party payment processors such as Stripe without getting Apple’s approval or paying Apple a cut of the action.
This change improves the flexibility of crypto-native transactions, which generally use outside payment infrastructure and blockchain technology. Integrating offsite resources for digital acquisitions will streamline user experience. Unsurprisingly, this change will make engaging in crypto-related activities less burdensome and therefore reduce existing friction.
The crypto community largely sees this policy change as a wonderful step to more widespread adoption of NFTs and DeFi. By opening up the market to payment systems outside of their own ecosystem, Apple is helping to create a fairer and more competitive landscape for crypto apps. This change could pave the way for many more developers to build and bring innovative crypto solutions to life on the Apple ecosystem.
For years, Apple’s iron-fisted enforcement of in-app purchases has led to an uproar from thousands of developers. This frustration has been, perhaps, most acute within the crypto community. The new guidelines acknowledge those worries by granting developers more flexibility and control over their revenue streams. The decision is an indication of the increasing awareness of the potential and value of blockchain technology and digital assets.
