Damus Says 'There's Nothing Apple Can Do' to Stop Its Bitcoin Lightning Tips

Damus said on Twitter that despite Apple's restrictions, it will continue to offer bitcoin tipping on its platform.

Decentralized social media platform Damus hit back at Apple with a post calling for its app to be removed from the App Store, saying the tech giant cannot prevent the use of Bitcoin lightning alerts, or "zaps," on its platform.

The team behind Damus says there is “nothing Apple can do” to stop Bitcoin Lightning alerts on its platform.

The comment included a retweeted post from Documenting Bitcoin, which documents the platform's daily tips, or zaps, which reached over one million on June 15 — a sign of strong support for Damus. The zaps feature allows users to tip content creators using a payment system that supports the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Source: @DocumentingBTC on Twitter.com

On June 13, Damus revealed that Apple threatened to remove the app from the App Store because of the platform's zaps feature.

“Zaps refers to the Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered payment mechanism that enables people to tip content creators for Nostr customers, such as Damus.”

Apple says using zaps to pay for digital content violates its guidelines because its "in-app purchase" mechanism is the only one allowed.

Square CEO Jack Dorsey pointed out that posting tips has nothing to do with selling digital content; instead, “it’s a form of feedback.” Marking Apple CEO Tim Cook, he asked why Apple restricted people from sending bitcoin.

At the time, Damus did not say whether he would comply and remove the zaps feature, saying only that the incident represented a "watershed moment" regarding freedom and people's right to conduct peer-to-peer transactions.

However, on June 16, the social media platform posted a provocative tweet saying that Apple could not stop the flow of zaps. It added:

"They're fighting a losing battle with open protocols. Arbitrary restrictions on how users can switch between our apps are just hurting their customer base for no reason."

A later tweet from Damus mentioned that people without bank accounts cannot use Apple Pay, while zaps have no such restrictions. The platform called Apple "truly evil and misguided" because it took "30% of fundraising and humanitarian aid positions."

Apple informed CryptoSlate that its guidelines allow peer-to-peer monetary gifts without the use of "in-app purchases," provided the gift is optional and the entire donation goes to the recipient. However, gifts related to digital content or services must go through Apple's proprietary payment service.