Apple Might Not Like It, but Zapple Pay Finds a Workaround for Bitcoin Tipping Damus
Last month, Apple (AAPL) threatened to remove bitcoin-friendly social media app Damus from its app store for allowing users to tap each other using bitcoin (BTC) on content posted in the app or “zapping” — a ban The tech giant reportedly believes the practice is tantamount to selling digital media.
Damus inventor William Casarin eventually conceded and resolved the standoff by removing the app’s ability to post or send notes; Users could still tip each other at the profile level.
On July 6, barely two weeks after Casarin’s concession, the new Zapple Pay service went live — the brainchild of two Bitcoin developers who claim to have no connection to Casarin or Damus. They say they discovered a way to activate Zaps via emojis.
Since emojis are allowed on posts, users of the app can send Zaps on posts again, despite Apple’s restrictions.
Users who want to try the new service simply provide their Nostr public key (npub), an emoji and a link to a wallet. Nostr is an acronym for “notes and other things transmitted by relays”.
“When they react to a post with this emoji, we initiate a zap on that post,” Carman told AskFX.
Since Zapple Pay is a third-party service, it’s not clear if Apple can or will take action against Damus and engage in a game of whac-a-mole with Carman and Miller.
“If Apple is that petty, you can’t really placate them in the long run,” Miller said. “We could build exactly the same functionality on any social network.”
Casarin, the creator of Damus, insists that he was neither involved in the development of Zapple Pay nor had any connection with the developers.
Damus is popular with Bitcoin users, in part for its tipping feature, and cryptocurrency advocates meddled on Apple’s behalf after Apple’s crackdown. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, whose current company Block (SQ) is largely Bitcoin-centric, even went so far as to denounce Apple CEO Tim Cook on the matter.
Jack Dorsey Speaks Up
On July 8th, Dorsey appeared to acknowledge the efforts of the Zapple Pay developers by posting on the Damus app: “Zaps always find a way” with a link to the team’s website.
Before Apple forced Casarin to remove Zaps on Damus posts, Apple recommended that he enable Zaps, which use his mobile payment service Apple Pay instead.
“Apple’s ban on Note Zaps is like trying to ban hyperlinks in browsers,” Casarin told AskFX. “It’s just a piece of technology and they have no power to stop it.”
We reached out to Apple for comment and the spokesperson had not responded at the time of publication.
“We could develop the same thing for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram,” said Carman. “So if they’re after Damus, we’re going to replicate it on Twitter and try to force them into action.”
