Apple has come under fire from the Bitcoin community after the company deleted popular Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain from the App Store without warning. Blockchain was the last remaining Bitcoin wallet available for iOS devices, and some 120,000 people use Blockchain to send and receive Bitcoin, according to the app maker [1] . Now, Bitcoin investors are lashing out at Cupertino by smashing their iPhones on video and opting for Google Nexus 5 handsets.
Early Thursday morning, just hours after Wired first reported [2] the deletion of Blockchain from the App Store, a member of Reddit’s Bitcoin community issued a proposition [3] : “For every 100 upvotes this post receives, I will gift someone a Nexus 5 for a video of them smashing their iPhone.â€
The redditor who proposed the tradeoff, “round-peg,†included the following stipulations: Only the first five people to submit videos would receive a Nexus 5; the smashed iPhone had to be of the iPhone 5 or 5S variety, running iOS 7; and the video needed to include the person’s face, name, and reason for deciding to destroy his or her iPhone.
“Your reason should include the fact that Apple is anti-Bitcoin, not just because you want a free trade for a new phone,†wrote round-peg.
About two hours after round-peg’s post went live, redditor “netpastor†became the first person to take round-peg at his word by posting a video of him smashing his 32GB iPhone 5 with a piece of metal tubing. Here’s the video:
Round-peg quickly followed up with an order receipt for the promised Nexus 5, a 32GB version, which netpastor confirmed was set to be shipped to him. The four other spots have been occupied already, and all five phones were of the iPhone 5 variety.
After some complained that round-peg was promoting waste by convincing people to destroy perfectly good smartphones, he upped the ante by promising to also buy a Motorola Moto G , which costs $180 for an unlocked 8GB version, for every iPhone destroyed. Each Moto G will be donated to charity, according to round-peg.
Trading in an iPhone 5 for a Nexus 5 may make little sense, economically speaking. Apple no longer offers the iPhone 5, but you can pick up an unlocked version of the 32GB model on eBay for around $500. The Nexus 5, which is only available in unlocked mode, will cost you $400 for the 32GB version. That said, the Nexus 5 is arguably the better device â€" and Google is not in the habit of banning Bitcoin apps out of the blue.
Either way, it’s the thought that counts, right?
Update 11:50am ET 2.6.14: Soon after publication of this article, the account of redditor round-peg, who made the smashed-iPhone-for-Nexus-5 offer, has been deleted [4] . It is possible round-peg was banned for violating Reddit’s rule [5]  against asking for upvotes. Or he just bounced. Luckily for the people who smashed their iPhones, it appears round-peg made good on his promise of a Nexus 5 to all five of them prior to his account’s deletion.
Links
- ^ according to the app maker (blog.blockchain.info)
- ^ Wired first reported (www.wired.com)
- ^ issued a proposition< small> (www.reddit.com)
- ^ has been deleted (www.reddit.com)
- ^ Reddit’s rule (www.reddit.com)
- ^ CultofMac (www.cultofmac.com)
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