The Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) Lightning payments application has mysteriously disappeared from both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States, just as it approaches a significant milestone of processing over 1 million transactions in November.
On November 24, users and members of the cryptocurrency community shared on Twitter their unsuccessful attempts to locate the WoS app, reporting either no search results or redirections to rival wallet applications.
Curiously, the WoS app remains available for download on the Australian Apple App Store and the Australian and Singaporean versions of the Google Play Store at the time of this report.
The Wallet of Satoshi recognized as a prominent Lightning payments platform, is anticipated to achieve a remarkable milestone of processing over 1.1 million Lightning payments in November, as noted by industry expert and podcaster Kevin Rooke. He described it as the company’s “largest month of Lightning payments ever.”
Despite these developments, both Apple and Wallet of Satoshi have not provided immediate responses to inquiries seeking additional details.
It’s worth noting that Apple imposes a substantial 30% tax on in-app payments, a stringent control that has posed challenges for cryptocurrency platforms seeking a presence on the App Store. This issue has recently come under scrutiny, as disgruntled users of PayPal Venmo and Block Cash App filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple on November 17.
The lawsuit alleges anti-competitive agreements between Apple, PayPal, and Block to restrict the utilization of cryptocurrency technology and payments on iOS.
Apple’s history includes the removal of various cryptocurrency applications, such as the delisting of the Nostr-based Damus app in June due to a Bitcoin tip feature. Additionally, the MetaMask wallet app faced a temporary removal from the App Store in October.