US judge rules Apple is prohibited from charging commissions for purchases outside the App Store, and apps can now sell NFTs directly

On May 2nd, according to The Verge, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in the Epic Games v. Apple case that Apple can no longer charge fees for purchases made outside of the app. The ruling takes immediate effect and prohibits the company from restricting developers from guiding users to make purchases outside of the app. Apple has stated that they will appeal the ruling. Epic Games will re-list "Fortnite" on the US App Store "next week."

Additionally, according to the Apple developer announcement, the App Review Guidelines have been updated to comply with the US court's ruling on buttons, external links, and other calls to action in apps. Guideline 3.1.1 states that apps can use in-app purchase functionality to sell and offer services related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as minting, listing, and transferring. Except for apps in the US store, apps may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that guide users to make purchases outside of the app.

Crossmint, a cryptocurrency API development company, commented that this ruling is significant for cryptocurrency: apps can now directly sell NFTs, tokens, and digital assets, and retain 100% of the revenue.