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Uniswap Launches iOS Wallet, But You Can’t Get It On the App Store
Uniswap’s new mobile wallet will only be available to 10,000 users for the time being as Apple is refusing to greenlight the app.
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This Friday, Uniswap Labs, the company behind one of the biggest Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges, announced the launch of its iOS mobile wallet. The wallet will, however, only be available through TestFlight as Apple is, allegedly, refusing to greenlight it.
Uniswap Claims Apple Won’t Greenlight App, Launches it Anyway
Uniswap Labs, the company behind one of the biggest decentralized exchanges on Ethereum, announced the launch of its new mobile wallet. The wallet is built to provide extensive utility and will enable users to connect to any app on, and seamlessly switch between the Mainnet, Polygon, Arbitum, and Optimism.
Wallet users will also be able to send and receive, and track ERC-20s, and NFTs and to browse various tokens by a wide array of parameters. Uniswap’s new app is also self-custodial, open source, and independently audited by a firm called Trail of Bits.
However, the company also revealed that it had failed to receive a green light from Apple for the launch. Therefore, the app will only be available through TestFlight and available to 10,000 users, at most. According to Uniswap, Apple did not explain the reasoning behind its refusal to approve the product. The company also revealed it will be sharing access codes through multiple platforms and that it will also be giving a large number at the Ethereum Denver festival.
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Why is Apple Blocking Web3 Apps?
Throughout the years, Apple has become known for jealously guarding its App store monopoly—and for getting in legal trouble for its monopolistic tendencies. Last year, for example, the tech giant reached a $100 million antitrust deal with its rival Epic. The company also found itself in trouble for similar reasons on another one of its platforms—Apple Pay.
Recent months have also brought the tech giant into conflict with web3 companies. Last December, Apple blocked an update for Coinbase’s wallet rendering its users unable to send and receive NFTs. The company has also been embroiled in a wider conflict with non-fungible token platforms, in large part due to its insistence on taking a 30% cut on all gas fees.
Other blockchain firms have also recently taken a step away from mobile. Earlier this week, the NFT marketplace Magic Eden informed its users that its smartphone apps would not be functional for at least a few months. Web3 enthusiasts may, however, soon be able to get a device with increased rather than reduced blockchain connectivity thanks to the release of Solana-based Android smartphones scheduled for April.
Why is Apple refusing to greenlight Uniswap’s mobile wallet? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Tim Fries
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
