The Bitcoin Lightning payments application, Wallet of Satoshi (WoS), has unexpectedly vanished from the App Store and Google Play Store in the United States.
On November 24th, several crypto community members and users reported on X (formerly known as Twitter) their inability to find the WoS app in the US stores, with searches either yielding no results or redirecting to alternative wallet applications.
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However, the app remains accessible in other parts of the world, including the Australian Apple App Store and the Australian and Singapore versions of the Google Play Store.
Wallet of Satoshi has gained popularity as a Lightning payments platform. It is projected to process over 1.1 million Lightning payments this November, as industry author and podcaster Kevin Rooke noted. The podcaster highlighted that this could be the platform's most significant month for Lightning payments.
Clarifying the situation, Wallet of Satoshi announced via an X post that their app was not banned but was voluntarily removed from the US Apple and Google app stores.
The statement indicated a halt in offering services to US customers, with the reasons for this decision not fully detailed. WoS left open the possibility of resuming US services based on future developments. It is worth noting that US users can still have full access to their BTC funds and transfer them to other wallets.
Apple has not yet commented on the matter. Apple's 30% tax policy on in-app payments, along with tight control over such transactions, has been a contentious issue for crypto platforms seeking presence on the App Store.
Apple has a history of delisting crypto apps. In June, it removed the Nostr-based Damus app over a Bitcoin tip feature and briefly pulled the MetaMask wallet app from its App Store in October.
The removal of the Wallet of Satoshi from US app stores by its developers marks a surprising turn for the popular Bitcoin Lightning payments app amidst broader platform policies and crypto integration issues in the tech industry.
