Apple threatens Sparrow bitcoin wallet dev with App Store termination

Apple has given the developer of Sparrow, a widely used Bitcoin wallet, until June 30 to save his Apple Developer account from termination. 

According to Apple, Craig Raw engaged in dishonest activity, however, Raw claims that he was simply trying to warn iPhone users about fake Sparrow apps that Apple approved.

Raw laid out his version of events in an X thread on Monday, admitting that he submitted a placeholder app in August 2025 whose only function was to tell users that the real Sparrow is desktop only and that any mobile version of Sparrow is therefore a fraud. 

Apple rejected the app for containing “placeholder content” and merely “demonstrating a concept.” 

Soon, Apple escalated to threatening deactivation of the account behind it.

Sparrow for macOS ships from Raw’s own website, not the Mac App Store. During the installation process, an Apple Developer ID certificate signs the software, which macOS uses to confirm the software is genuine. 

If Apple kills the account, that action kills the authentication certificate. 

Raw warned that unless a human employee at Apple reverses the decision by the deadline, “all new installs of Sparrow Wallet will fail, and development on macOS will end.”

Read more: Google warns over 200 million iPhone crypto wallets at risk

According to Raw, he listed the placeholder Sparrow BTC wallet in the App Store as a warning against fake software. 

He says more than a dozen counterfeit Sparrow apps have reached the App Store since 2023, with the most recent landing in April this year.

Terrifyingly, the fake software prompts the victim to type in a wallet recovery phrase which grants hackers control of digital assets.

The damage is real. In August 2025, a Bitcoin holder posting as “Bitcoin Jimmy” lost 7.4 BTC, self-described as his life savings. He’d entered the seed phrase from a Coldcard Q hardware wallet into a fake Sparrow app from Apple’s store. 

At the time, that was a six-figure sum. 

Raw holds the registered US trademarks for the Sparrow name and logo. On those grounds, he’s reported the impostors to Apple since early 2024. 

Nevertheless, fake Sparrow BTC wallets kept reappearing.

Raw conceded his placeholder move was clumsy. “This approach may have been misguided, but there was nothing dishonest about it.”

Raw believes the flag for deactivation is machine-generated. He expects “this is an automated misclassification that Apple would reverse on review,” but fears he “may be terminated before a human ever looks at my appeal,” with the June 30, 2026 deadline clock against him.

Many Bitcoiners spent Monday trying to summon a human review at Apple. Sparrow’s own account told followers that absent a reversal, “all new installs of Sparrow will fail, and development on macOS will end.” 

Podcaster Stephan Livera vouched for Raw as “a highly respected Bitcoin app developer.” 

Educator BTC Sessions warned that punishing the developer who flags scams creates “a direct incentive for people to turn a blind eye from now on.”

Apple hasn’t publicly commented on Raw’s plea. Its own figures say the company terminated more than 193,000 developer accounts in 2025, and then restored only 499 of the 10,127 accounts that appealed.

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Apple threatens Sparrow bitcoin wallet dev with App Store termination appeared first on Protos.