Bitchat | Crypto

Bitchat launched in July last year and has been used during protests in Madagascar, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia and Iran as authorities attempted to restrict usage of the internet. Bitchat, a decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app developed by Block CEO Jack Dorsey, has been removed from Apple’s App Store in China for allegedly violating its internet service regulations.  In an X post on Sunday, Dorsey shared a screenshot from Apple’s app review team informing him that Bitchat had been removed from the App Store in February and that the TestFlight beta version would no longer be available in China at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). “Bitchat pulled from the China App Store,” he said. Read more

Ugandan officials claimed that they could also shut down the internet-free, encrypted messaging app last week, but haven't done so yet. Bitchat has become the most-downloaded app in Uganda as state officials confirmed that internet access has been cut off and will remain inaccessible during the presidential election, which starts on Thursday. It marks the third straight election in which Ugandan authorities have cut internet access, a move officials said is necessary to mitigate the spread of online misinformation. However, critics argue that shutting off the internet suppresses election-related information and can potentially manipulate the outcome. Read more

Bitchat developer Calle boldly said, “You can’t stop us” after Uganda threatened to block Bitchat ahead of elections next week. One of the developers of Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app Bitchat has cast doubt on Uganda’s threat to shut down the app ahead of the country’s presidential election. On Monday, the Uganda Communications Commission executive director, Nyombi Thembo, said his team has the technical know-how to turn off Bitchat. Bitchat leverages Bluetooth mesh networks, enabling encrypted communication without the need for an internet connection.  Read more

Google Trends search for “Bitchat” in Uganda shows a spike from 0 to 100 on Wednesday, the day after opposition leader Bobi Wine urged people to download it. Ugandan politician and opposition leader Bobi Wine is encouraging his constituents to download Jack Dorsey’s decentralized peer-to-peer messaging service, Bitchat, in the lead-up to the country’s election, alleging the ruling party will try to cut off communication services.   During the 2016 election, long-time Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni blocked internet and social media access for the entire population, citing security and safety concerns, and again in 2021, according to a report from the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network. Wine alleged in a X post on Tuesday that a similar action is on the agenda in the lead-up to the Uganda 2026 presidential election, which is scheduled for Jan. 15. Read more

Downloads for decentralized messaging app Bitchat has surged in Jamaica as 185-mile-per-hour winds batter the Caribbean, cutting off communication. Jamaicans have rushed to download Jack Dorsey’s decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app Bitchat as the fatal Hurricane Melissa continues to rip through the Caribbean. Bitchat — which uses Bluetooth mesh networks for internet-free, encrypted communication — is now the second-most downloaded app on the Apple App Store and Google Play in Jamaica, offering a lifeline for 2.8 million people as internet coverage continues to falter in the region.  Bitchat only trails weather forecast platform Zoom Earth — indicating that two of Jamaican’s most basic needs right now are to know what the weather is, and to communicate with one another. Read more

Block CEO Jack Dorsey has released a white paper and launched a beta for Bitchat, a decentralized messaging app using Bluetooth mesh networks for internet-free, encrypted communication. Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has launched the beta version of a new decentralized peer-to-peer messaging service that runs entirely over Bluetooth.  Jack Dorsey said his weekend was spent learning about “Bluetooth mesh networks, relays, store and forward models, message encryption models, and a few other things” as he introduced Bitchat on X on Sunday.  The “Bluetooth mesh chat” system has “IRC [Internet Relay Chat] vibes,” Dorsey added, harking back to the early days of web-based messaging systems in the late 1990s.  Read more