Apple Faces Lawsuit Over Fake Bitcoin Wallet App That Drained $1.8M
Three Bitcoin holders have filed a lawsuit against Apple in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that a counterfeit Sparrow Wallet app in the App Store drained their funds. The plaintiffs claim that they lost a combined $1.8 million after entering their seed phrases into the fake app.
The Sparrow Wallet is only available on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms and has never shipped an iOS version, making any App Store listing under its name an impersonation. James Ramirez reported the issue to Apple immediately after losing 7.4 BTC, valued at around $875,000, while Christopher Ellis downloaded a Sparrow app from the store nine days later and lost about $840,000.
The lawsuit raises eight claims, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and strict products liability. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for their losses and want the court to require Apple to provide clearer warnings and disclosures about App Store risks going forward.