Key takeaways
- Jack Dorsey says the government of India officially removed Bitchat from Apple's App Store in India
- MeitY issues the demand under Section 69A, and the Internet Freedom Foundation calls the unpublished order unconstitutional
- Bitchat pairs Bluetooth mesh with the Nostr protocol and supports Cashu ecash payments through a /pay command
Bitchat creator Jack Dorsey said on Saturday, October 3, 2026 that the government of India officially removed Bitchat from Apple's App Store in India. According to TechCrunch, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the demand to Apple under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.
Bitchat was also no longer available for download through Google Play in India when TechCrunch checked on Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether Google and internet service providers had also received directions from the federal government, TechCrunch reported.
An Order Nobody Has Seen
Apple's notice says the app remains available outside India, and TestFlight is also blocked in India, according to TechCrunch. Apple, Google and India's IT ministry did not comment to TechCrunch.
The Internet Freedom Foundation called the order unconstitutional and said neither the order nor the content it cites was made public. TechCrunch also reported that India sent an earlier order to GitHub in July 2026 under a different legal provision.
Developer calle wrote on X that the Government of India bans Bitchat from the Google Play Store. Google did not comment to TechCrunch, and it was not immediately clear whether Google received directions from the federal government.
Bluetooth Mesh, Nostr and Cashu
Sensor Tower data cited by TechCrunch showed India accounted for about 85% of Bitchat's global downloads from July 17 to 23, compared with about 1% previously.
Bitchat uses Bluetooth mesh networking. Its GitHub README describes a dual transport architecture that pairs local Bluetooth mesh networks for offline communication with the internet-based Nostr protocol for global reach.
Bitchat release notes on GitHub list Cashu ecash chips that detect, render and redeem tokens, plus a /pay command. That brings Cashu ecash payments backed by Bitcoin Lightning into Bitchat itself. Developer calle announced in June 2026 on X that Bitchat is coming to Cashu, calling it Ecash on the Mesh with Nutdrop.
Why It Matters
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology used a Section 69A order to remove Bitchat from Apple's App Store in India without making the order public, which shows how a single app store gives a state one switch over communication software. Bitchat pairs Bluetooth mesh networks with the Nostr protocol and carries Cashu ecash payments backed by Bitcoin Lightning, so the order removed a storefront listing rather than the open protocols behind the app. We think sovereignty over money and speech rests on open protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr, and this policy move is a reminder that any app store listing can be pulled by a ministry order nobody gets to read.
