News
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.
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Messaging App News
Messaging apps or chat applications are platforms that enable the exchange of messages. Most messaging apps were originally social networking platforms, but they have vastly increased their functions over time. Today, messaging apps also enable chatbots, smart replies, voice and video calls, payments and conversational commerce. Messaging apps are the most popular software for smartphones today. However, even encrypted-messaging apps’ architectures make those applications centralized, with a place for censorship and the possibility of deleting data. Blockchain-based p2p messaging apps may become the new generation of messaging apps, with advanced security and reduced opportunities for censorship. Decentralized messaging apps are currently designed on several major blockchain platforms and have their own startups and ICOs too.
- News
Bitchat saw a spike in downloads during protests in Madagascar, Nepal, Indonesia and Iran over the last year, and global unrest could see more cases like it.
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Plaintiffs in a US district court lawsuit accused Meta of having backdoor access to WhatsApp chats, impacting the privacy of its more than 3 billion users.
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Ugandan officials claimed that they could also shut down the internet-free, encrypted messaging app last week, but haven't done so yet.
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A developer behind Jack Dorsey–linked messaging app Bitchat questioned Uganda’s claim that it can disable the service ahead of next week’s election.
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Telegram’s H1 2025 revenue climbed 65% to $870 million, while Toncoin write-downs and $500 million in frozen bonds have added pressure.
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Session’s Chris McCabe and Alex Linton tell Cointelegraph that AI-integrated devices could bypass messaging encryption, creating privacy and security issues.
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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.
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Decentralized messengers shift security beyond encryption by reducing metadata, limiting data requests and preparing for post-quantum threats.
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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has just donated over $760,000 in Ether to two projects he says are pushing digital privacy forward.
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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is now free to travel after French authorities fully lifted a ban, although the investigation into the platform remains open.
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Downloads of decentralized messaging app Bitchat are soaring in Jamaica as 185 mph winds batter the Caribbean, knocking out regular communication channels.
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Jack Dorsey and Peter Todd are among the Bitcoiners voicing support for privacy messaging app Signal to adopt Bitcoin amid a “Bitcoin for Signal” campaign.
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Protests erupted in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, last Thursday over ongoing water and power cuts, with demonstrations later spreading across the country.
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Thousands of Nepalis turned to Jack Dorsey’s Bluetooth mesh network messaging app in response to the government’s social media ban, which has since been lifted.
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