Now Google Bans Crypto Mining Mobile Apps, Too

Say goodbye to cryptocurrency mining apps from the Play Store. In the latest updates to its developer policy, Google has announced it is banning all cryptocurrency mining apps from its app store. Apps that manage cryptocurrency mining on other places, like a computer or cloud, are still permitted.

This is just a small fraction of a huge update which tackles things like spam, functionality, intellectual property theft, monetization and advertising, deception and privacy.

Google did not go into further detail as to why it has decided to ban such apps. The company has followed in the footsteps of Apple which, too, banned the same type of apps from its app store just over a month ago. However, unlike Google which just banned the apps, Apple also released a set of rules for cryptocurrencies on its platform, regulating how its users can access and use the advantages of this new technology.

At the same time, Google removed the MetaMask app from its Chrome Web Store, allegedly in error. The app was absent from the store roughly six hours, sparking an outrage amongst the community.

The community was particularly loud because what remained on the store, after MetaMask was removed, was a fake app, which the community feared it might be harmful to whoever downloads it.

Six hours later, the real MetaMask app was back on the store, and the fake one was removed.

After all was said and done, MetaMask’s Kevin Serrano reached out to the community via a blog post, thanking everyone for the support, and explaining the situation in detail.

“The community was 100% behind us the entire time, something we wholeheartedly appreciate,” Serrano wrote. “Big shout-outs to Brave & BAT, Augur, MyCrypto, IDEX, and the several other people and organizations who helped propagate the initial announcement and inform our community. You all represent a community worth developing for.”