Apple is coming under scrutiny for how its App Store review process handles submissions of cryptocurrency trading and wallet apps. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook today, the chair of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs questioned what “measures your company is taking to prevent fraudulent activity in your app store.”
App Store cryptocurrency scams
As first spotted by The Verge, the letter from Senator Sherrod Brown comes as the FBI and other agencies have issued warnings around the proliferation of crypto scams. Apple plays a role in these scams, Brown said, by offering a number of mobile apps for trading cryptocurrencies.
In recent years, crypto trading platforms and exchanges have experienced a surge in popularity with millions of investors downloading mobile apps to trade and invest in digital assets. Millions of Americans use mobile apps to invest in unregulated digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. Crypto mobile apps are available to the public through app stores, including Apple’s App Store. While crypto apps have offered investors easy and convenient ways to trade cryptocurrency, reports have emerged of fake crypto apps that have scammed hundreds of investors.
As such, Brown is asking Cook to explain in depth to explain what measures Apple takes when reviewing App Store submissions for crypto apps. The democratic senator explained that it is “imperative that app stores have the proper safeguards in place to…
