Apple Sued Over Fake Bitcoin App That Drained $1. 8 Million
ThreeBitcoinholders have suedApplein a California federal court, alleging a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app on the App Store led to combined losses of $1. 8 million. The plaintiffs claim Apple ranked the. . .
ThreeBitcoinholders have suedApplein a California federal court, alleging a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app on the App Store led to combined losses of $1. 8 million. The plaintiffs claim Apple ranked the fraudulent app in curated cryptocurrency collections, effectively recommending it to consumers. Sparrow Wallet developer Craig Raw has publicly flagged copycat iOS apps since January 2024, even facing a temporary account termination after trying to post a warning. Three Bitcoin holders have sued Apple in the Northern District of California, alleging a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app on the App Store drained a combined $1. 8 million. The complaint, filed on July 24, brings eight counts including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and strict products liability. - Advertisement -Each plaintiff entered a seed phrase into the app, according to the filing, with losses ranging from $120,000 to $875,000. Sparrow Wallet runs only on Windows, macOS and Linux and has never shipped an iOS version, making any App Store listing under that name an impersonation. James Ramirez reported the app to Apple on July 25, 2025, but Christopher Ellis downloaded a Sparrow app from the store nine days later and lost $840,000. No one from Apple has contacted Ramirez about his report, and fraudulent Sparrow apps were still listed when the complaint was filed. The filing also alleges that Apple ranked the fake app and included it in curated cryptocurrency collections,“effectively recommending a fraudulent application to consumers alongside legitimate ones. ”Craig Raw, who built Sparrow Wallet and holds the U. S. trademarks, has flagged copycatMalwareon the App Store since January 2024,tweetingthat a scam version was still live weeks after being reported. Raw stated that he submitted anApp Store listingwhose only purpose was to tell iOS users that Sparrow is desktop-only. Apple rejected it and flagged his developer account for termination over “dishonest activity,” a decision later reversed on appeal. - Advertisement -Apple declined to comment on the lawsuit toTechCrunch, instead pointing to anecosystem analysisnoting it rejected more than 371,000 malicious App Store submissions. Count seven asks the court to treat the App Store as a product, exposing Apple to strict liability for failing to warn. ✅ FollowBITNEWSBOTonTelegram,Facebook,LinkedIn,X. com, andGoogle Newsfor instant updates. Previous Articles:Grayscale: HYPE circulating supply 270-310M by 2027Bitcoin ETFs bleed $526M as BTC fails to hold $65KJoyfill npm beta releases drop blockchain-linked RATTether Signs Tokenization Deal with Nairobi ExchangeUS-Iran Ceasefire Doubt Grows as Polymarket Odds Drop 10%Stay in the Loop🔥Join 1. 2K Smart TradersGet exclusive crypto insights, breaking news, and market analysis delivered straight to your inbox. No fluff, just facts.