Apple Rejects Coinbase Wallet Over NFT Feature

Quick Take

• Apple rejects the Coinbase Wallet app.
• GnosisDAO releases an MEV Boost relay
• The EF shuts down Ropsten.
• ENS reaches 2.8 million registered domains.

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Apple Rejects Coinbase Wallet App

Coinbase Wallet, a self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet, no longer includes the ability to transfer NFTs. According to Coinbase, Apple would not approve an updated release of the app unless gas fees associated with sending NFTs were paid through Apple’s in-app purchase system. The request would tack on 30% in additional fees for users.

Coinbase compared Apple’s demand akin to taking a cut of fees for every email that gets sent over open internet protocols. Meeting the requirement is currently not possible since Apple’s in-app purchase system does not support crypto payments. Coinbase ultimately decided to ship out its latest release without NFT transfer features.

ENS Avatar Minting Tool

Gregskril.eth, the developer behind ENS Leaderboard and ENS Fairy, released an ENS avatar minting tool. The tool automates the process of setting up avatar records on an ENS domain. Typically, users need to edit avatar records using the ENS manager which requires an HTTPS link, an IPFS content hash, or specific contract and token details.

The avatar tool is open source and only interacts with ENS contracts. Gregskril’s site, mintyourpfp.xyz, also provides users with a UI to mint images as NFTs under a shared collection. Setting up an ENS avatar incurs a gas fee to execute the on-chain record change. Once set, the avatar is displayed across supported web3 applications.

New MEV Boost Relays Go Live

Two new MEV Boost relays have been introduced in an effort to expand relay diversity. Coined Agnostic Relay and Ultra Sound Relay, the new relays are being powered by the GnosisDAO and Ultra Sound Money communities. Both relays are open-source and credibly neutral, allowing for all transactions to be validated without censorship.

On November 20th, a peak of 79% of validators were running an OFAC-compliant version of MEV Boost. The Merge introduced Proposer Builder Separation (PBS) in which relays are now responsible for accepting blocks from external builders. Validators use MEV Boost to select the most profitable blocks proposed by relayers.

EF Shuts Down Ropsten Testnet

The Ethereum Foundation has deprecated the Ropsten testnet with the remaining validator nodes expected to shut down completely by the end of this month. Rinkeby is the next testnet that will be sunset by the foundation. Upgrades will no longer be supported on Rinkeby with a complete shutdown slated for mid-2023.

Infrastructure providers, including Etherscan, have already deprecated support for Ropsten and Rinkeby. Developers using pre-merge testnets are urged to migrate their applications to Goerli or Sepolia, which are the only testnets that will continue to be maintained by the Ethereum Foundation.

2.8 Million ENS Domains Registered

ENS released its registration stats for November 2022. A total of 70k new .eth domains were registered for the month. The protocol reached a peak of 437k new monthly registrations back in September. Over 2.8 million ENS domains have been registered in the protocol’s lifetime. According to data from Zapper, the ENS DAO holds just over $1 billion in its treasury.