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
Ant Group and JD.com have paused their stablecoin initiatives in Hong Kong after Beijing regulators raised concerns over private firms issuing digital currencies. Chinese technology giants, including Ant Group and JD.com, have reportedly suspended plans to issue stablecoins in Hong Kong after regulators in Beijing voiced concerns over privately controlled digital currencies. The companies were instructed by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to pause these initiatives, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The real regulatory concern is, who has the ultimate right of coinage — the central bank or any private companies on the market?” one source familiar with the discussions told the FT. Read more