Apple Removes “Off The Chain” Crypto and Blockchain Podcast From iTunes After It Ranks #4

A cryptocurrency called Off the Chain, which is produced by Anthony Pompliano, a partner of Morgan Creek Digital and crypto analyst, has been blocked by Apple’s iTunes app after the program was ranked #4 in the United States.

After the removal, Pompliano complained on Twitter.

Last week we released a podcast discussing the ultimate argument for Bitcoin.

It exploded & ranked #4 in US investing category before mysteriously being taken down by @Apple.

We had no warning. We don’t know why.

They took down our podcast, but they can’t take down Bitcoin!

— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) November 6, 2018

According to him, the podcast was discussing the “ultimate argument for Bitcoin” and it exploded in popularity, so it went up in the rankings before it was taken down by Apple.

According to him, there was no warning and he does not know why Apple has chosen to do it. “They took down our podcast, but they can’t take down Bitcoin”, he affirmed.

Coindesk has investigated the issue and published that, indeed, the program was not accessible from iTunes, which corroborated the story that it was actually removed. When asked why Apple might have taken down the podcast, he claimed that the company offered no warning and no explanation whatsoever.

Pompliano was also contacted by Cointelegraph, which was provided with proof that the podcast was, indeed, in 4th in the investment category rankings before it was taken down.

If you already downloaded the episodes, you can still play them but not acquire them. The episodes are still available for Libsyn, Google Play and Spotify, too, if you want to hear them. At the moment, Apple has not come forward to explain what happened.

According to our information, the podcast was in the “investing” category before it was removed by Apple yesterday, November 5. The description for the episode explains that the host interviewed Murad Mahmudov, described as one of the “highest conviction Bitcoin Maximalists in the world”.

The episode detailed the basic information about what Bitcoin is and the arguments of Mahmudov about how its deflationary monetary system can be good for after all fiat currencies fail, as he believes that they are doomed.

Was this an attack on Bitcoin as Pompliano seems to believe? That does not seem very likely at the moment as Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, has recently announced EQUI Global, a new venture fund focused on the blockchain technology and Bitcoin and has affirmed that it is “pure digital gold”.