Nepali Protests Fuel Demand for Decentralized Messaging App Bitchat Amidst Violence

A surge in downloads of Jack Dorsey’s decentralized messaging app, bitchat, has been recorded in Nepal amidst escalating protests against government corruption and a temporary social media ban. Over 48,000 users have downloaded the app since protests began earlier this week, according to Bitcoin open-source developer “callebtc,” who is working on bitchat. This follows similar increases in Indonesia last week, where protests erupted over alleged corruption and censorship.