Six months after Apple removed the Blockchain wallet application from its App Store, Apple has announced this morning that subsequent to Blockchain’s release of a completely new version of its Android application just a few days ago, it will be reinstated as a fully available download from Apple’s App Store.
Whether the reinstatement by Apple is a reaction to Google’s Android mobile smartphone platform having embraced the Blockchain wallet or not is unclear, however, it is likely that the popularity of the Android application’s revamp which was unveiled at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Chicago had spurred Apple forward.
Apple banned the iOS application in January this year, which generated tremendous media attention across the globe, with over 1,000 news stories which covered Apple’s draconian stance on the wallet application.
Popularity and demand therefore cannot be ignored, and Apple has restored full functionality to the Bitcoin wallet, however the firm has not directly stated its position on support of Bitcoin or other payment technologies, instead having quietly revised its terms and conditions in June this year, as reported by LeapRate, to include the facilitation of Bitcoin application availability via App Store.
Prior to the application’s removal, Blockchain was the most downloaded Bitcoin wallet on iOS. The new Blockchain application has undergone a complete redesign with security and usability in mind. According to Bitcoin Magazine, users will notice an elegant and simple experience designed to make it easy for new and existing Bitcoin users. The team at Blockchain is excited to continue investing in iOS and reimagining how the world transacts.
Many large companies and commercial investors worldwide have shown great interest in supporting Bitcoin during the last six months, therefore it is fair to concur that the entire Bitcoin ecosystem is vastly different today when compared with six months ago at the time when Apple banned the Blockchain application.
In January, MtGox was on the brink of demise, leaving thousands of customers high and dry, and the value of Bitcoin had been subject to highly unpredictable fluctuations, as well as not much time having elapsed since the high profile US government seizure of anonymous market place Silk Road and the closing of Litecoin marketplace Atlantis.
Today, things are somewhat different, with regulatory authorities in financial safe houses such as Switzerland and the United States having set out an entire framework for Bitcoin infrastructure, and many Bitcoin-related ventures having been backed by seasoned venture capital experts, giving rise to the notion that virtual currency is not only here to stay but represents a future means of conducting worldwide business.
Apple, being at the very forefront of competition for supremacy in the tablet and smartphone arena, is unlikely to want to miss out on such a huge phenomenon.