Cryptocurrency app launch on App Store delayed! U.S. court postpones ruling on Epic Games vs Apple case.

The Ninth Circuit Court previously announced a stay on the ruling between tech giant Apple and popular game developer Epic Games, delaying the enforcement of the three-year lawsuit outcome. The request to lift the stay was recently submitted by Epic to the United States Supreme Court, but the application was denied by the Supreme Court yesterday.

Supreme Court Grants Apple Opportunity to Appeal

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan announced that the request from Epic to stay the judgment pending appeal, submitted on July 25, has been denied, meaning Apple will now benefit from the Court's ruling.

The previous judgment indicated that Apple can maintain its tax rules but must adjust its "anti-steering provisions" to allow developers like Epic Games to direct users to other payment options for fair competition.

However, this stay is temporary, and Apple must decide whether to file with the Supreme Court and continue the appeal within this year. If they choose not to appeal in the end or if the judges reject it, the judgment will take immediate effect.

Both Apple and Epic have not commented on this matter, but Epic's stance can be gleaned from the documents they submitted to the court:

"This outcome will not only harm Epic but will also harm countless consumers and other app developers for a long time."

Additionally, they state that "the court used too lenient a legal standard in deciding whether to stay this judgment."

Apple's "Anti-Steering and Tax Terms"

Specifically, Apple's App Store does not allow in-app purchases for goods or unlocking app features, charging a tax of up to 15% to 30% on any transactions. The anti-steering and taxation work together to prevent developers from avoiding taxes.

This term has long been criticized for its high tax rates, limiting most crypto apps to offering only basic functions like viewing balances and assets. This has caused many crypto apps that initially aimed to enter the mass market with user-friendly Web2 purchasing methods to retreat and slow down technological advancements.

It is reported that Apple earns billions of dollars in revenue annually through this term.

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Previous Judgment

In April of this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment of the lower court, stating that Apple's "anti-steering provisions" harmed Epic's interests and increased the cost of Epic joining Apple's App Store applications.

At the same time, this prevented other Apple users from becoming potential Epic Games customers, thus violating state competition laws and antitrust principles.

However, the judge made rulings mostly in favor of Apple on most issues, only supporting Epic's rights on the above-mentioned issues.

At that time, the judge also examined the actions between the two companies from another perspective, pointing out:

"If consumers were aware of the significant difference between Epic Games' app store's much lower tax rate of 12% compared to Apple's 30%, they might choose to use Epic Games' platform directly, thereby increasing Epic Games' store revenue."