Apple has reversed its decision to terminate the developer account of Craig Raw, the developer of the bitcoin wallet Sparrow Wallet. But the issue of fake Sparrow Wallet apps listed on the App Store remains unresolved.

Bitcoin Magazine reported on Monday that Raw said his appeal was accepted and Apple withdrew its plan to terminate his developer account.

The controversy began after Apple notified Raw it would terminate his developer account by the end of this month. Apple cited “dishonest activity” as the reason, but Raw has said the decision was a mistake.

Raw, who is from South Africa, developed Sparrow Wallet in 2020 as an open-source bitcoin desktop wallet. The wallet can be used on macOS, Windows and Linux, and it does not offer a mobile app.

The problem was fake Sparrow Wallet apps that appeared on the App Store. Raw said that since 2023, more than 10 scam apps that stole the Sparrow name and logo without authorisation were listed on the App Store. The apps lured users into entering a seed phrase and then sent it to attackers to steal cryptocurrency. A seed phrase is key information needed to recover a crypto wallet and access assets. If exposed, users can lose all assets stored in the wallet.

Raw has reported the apps to Apple since last year and repeatedly warned users. Some apps were removed, but similar impersonation apps have repeatedly appeared, it was reported.

There were also actual cases of losses. Raw said he received messages several times from users saying they lost all their savings and long-term investment assets. Raw currently holds U.S. trademark rights to the Sparrow Wallet name and logo.

As the situation worsened, Raw tried to list a separate informational app on the App Store. The app was designed to show only a warning message, without any wallet function, saying, "Sparrow is a desktop-only service and no official mobile app exists."

Apple rejected the submission, saying it amounted to “placeholder content,” and later classified the entire developer account for termination. The industry has pointed out that if the termination had gone ahead, it could have had a significant impact on Sparrow Wallet users as well.

Sparrow Wallet is not distributed through the Mac App Store, but distributing software on macOS requires a valid Apple developer certificate. If the account is terminated, the certificate is also invalidated, making new installations difficult and potentially stopping updates. Ahead of the termination deadline, Raw wrote on X that he believed Apple would reverse the decision if it was reviewed by a person.

The appeal was accepted and the developer account was maintained, but the root cause remains. Raw said that even after the account issue was resolved, fake Sparrow Wallet apps remained on the App Store and users' funds continued to be exposed to risk.

Because Sparrow Wallet does not provide a mobile version, he stressed that users should not mistake an app with the same name on the App Store for an official service.

The industry is assessing the case as showing how much self-custody crypto wallets can be affected by platform policies. It also pointed out that in a structure where users manage their own private keys, a single impersonation app can cause users to lose all their assets, making platform-level responses more important.