Bitchat, a decentralized peer-to-peer messaging app developed by Block CEO Jack Dorsey, has been removed from Apple’s App Store in China amid regulatory scrutiny over online services with public opinion or social mobilization capabilities. The move follows a notification from Apple indicating that Bitchat was pulled in February and that the TestFlight beta version would no longer be accessible in China at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

On X, Dorsey shared a screenshot of Apple’s review communication, noting that Bitchat had been removed from the China App Store and the TestFlight beta would no longer be available there. “Bitchat pulled from the China App Store,” he wrote.

Beyond its regulatory status, Bitchat has gained attention for its role in demonstrations and instances where traditional communications networks were disrupted. Protests in Madagascar, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia, and Iran have coincided with spikes in demand for alternative messaging channels, prompting renewed interest in apps that can operate without centralized infrastructure. Bitchat’s core technology runs on Bluetooth and mesh networks, enabling encrypted messaging even when internet access is limited or unavailable, a feature that could place it at odds with China’s tightly controlled internet regime.

The app’s distinct approach—peer-to-peer, offline-first, and privacy-protective—has also drawn attention from users and observers who see potential advantages in resilience during network shutdowns. However, the CAC’s stance highlights a broader regulatory framework that governs online services with public opinion influence or mobilization capabilities, a category that Bitchat reportedly falls into under Chinese rules.

Key takeaways

• The CAC contends Bitchat violates Article 3 of its regulations governing online services with public opinion or social mobilization capabilities, which took effect in 2018. The levying authority requires security assessments for such services and accountability for their results.
• Apple’s review team indicated that all apps on its store must comply with local requirements where they are available, and that China’s authorities asked for the removal of Bitchat’s China-friendly distribution, including the discontinuation of the TestFlight beta.
• The technology underpinning Bitchat—Bluetooth and mesh-networked communications—enables operation without a traditional internet connection, a design choice that complicates enforcement for a regime that often curtails online access.
• Despite the China setback, Bitchat remains accessible in other markets. Chrome download statistics put the app at over three million installations, with more than 92,000 downloads in the past week, while the Google Play store has logged over one million registered downloads. The geographic breakdown of these users was not disclosed.

Regulatory friction and the China angle

The CAC’s argument centers on the premise that platforms capable of shaping public opinion or enabling social mobilization must undergo a security assessment prior to launch and bear responsibility for the assessment outcomes. In a 2018 framework, the agency outlined that such assessments are mandatory for services with the potential to influence public discourse. The CAC’s position, as reflected in the notice relayed to Dorsey, also emphasizes that apps must adhere to the local laws of each country in which they operate, with messaging that explicitly warns against content or conduct that could be deemed criminal or reckless.

The Chinese stance underscores the ongoing tension between decentralized, privacy-focused messaging tools and state-driven censorship regimes. Bitchat’s architecture—designed to function with limited or no internet connectivity—could be challenged by regulators seeking to maintain control over information flow, especially in a market as sensitive to content regulation as China.

Global footprint and what users should watch next

Even as Bitchat faces restrictions in China, the app’s global footprint remains active in other jurisdictions. Third-party download trackers show robust interest in markets outside China, though they do not break down regional share. The app’s outage in a major market raises questions about the survivability of decentralized messaging apps under states that impose strict connectivity controls, and it may influence developers’ decisions about app distribution and compliance strategies in the region.

To put the scale into perspective, WeChat remains the dominant messaging platform in China, with hundreds of millions of users domestically, underscoring how different regulatory frameworks shape user experiences and market dynamics in each region. Observers will be watching how Bitchat and similar projects navigate regulatory scrutiny while continuing to serve users seeking resilient communications options in environments with restricted internet access.

The broader takeaway for investors, builders, and users is that regulatory risk for decentralized, privacy-preserving messaging is not theoretical: it can translate into real-tailored constraints on distribution channels and feature sets. As authorities around the world calibrate their approach to online services with social or mobilization capabilities, developers may need to balance privacy and resilience with compliance to local laws and regulatory expectations.

Looking ahead, readers should monitor whether Apple or the CAC provide further details on the exact nature of the regulatory concerns and whether a pathway to re-listing in China could emerge. Developments in other markets—where Bitchat remains available—could influence adoption, monetization, and platform strategies for privacy-focused messaging tools as the regulatory landscape continues to evolve.

Move over, legacy crypto. Circle’s Layer-1 blockchain Arc, built for stablecoin finance and institutional use, will debut with quantum-resistant features designed to survive a future in which traditional blockchains could crumble under quantum attacks.

“At mainnet, Arc will introduce a post-quantum signature scheme, giving users a practical design path to create quantum-resistant wallets,” Arc said in an update Thursday. The update didn’t mention the timeline for the mainnet launch.

It means that Arc is baking in quantum resistance from day one, unlike legacy chains, which may be waiting to add this feature later as a patch. So, when users create a wallet on the mainnet, they can choose a signing method that future quantum computers cannot break. This will ensure the long-term security and protection of crypto assets in wallets.

Every blockchain wallet relies on a digital signature or a super-secure key to prove you own your tokens and authorize transactions. When you hit “send” on your crypto, your wallet signs the transaction with this code, and the network verifies it before moving the coins. Today’s computers aren’t powerful enough to exploit this process, access your key, and drain your coins.

However, a future quantum computer could do so in at least two ways – a long attack and a short attack, as CoinDesk explained Sunday.

In short, what appears unbreakable today may not be tomorrow, which is what Arc is offering a quantum-resistant signing method right of the bat.

Arc’s announcement comes as Google’s report on quantum threats to Bitcoin and Ethereum’s blockchains stirs fresh questions about the long-term reliability of digital ledgers. Developers, however, have been tackling the issue for months, proposing early solutions. At the same time, startups like Postquant Labs are exploring how quantum hardware could actually strengthen blockchain networks.

Arc’s choice to build quantum resistance from the ground up could make it especially attractive to institutions. The blockchain kicked off its testnet in October, using Circle’s dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC as the native currency for gas fees. USDC, with a market cap of around $77.5 billion, trails only tether USDT$0.9996 in size and stands out as a regulated stablecoin favored by institutions.

Arc’s roadmap also includes ensuring that sensitive financial information remains private in the quantum era. Its near-term plan focuses on protecting private balances, confidential payments, and recipient information with quantum-resistant cryptography, not just quantum-resistant wallet keys. This way, the confidential financial activity of institutions using Arc will remain private.

The mid-term phase will focus on closing the backdoors through which a quantum attack could occur. These backdoors are the cloud servers validators run on, the hardware security modules that store keys, and the encrypted connections between nodes. This is akin to fortifying an entire building, not just the safe in your room closet.

In the long term, Arc will focus on the validator layer. Validators are the computers — run by trusted institutions — that confirm transactions and add new blocks to the distributed ledger.

Arc’s current design finalizes a block in under a second, according to the official blog. This leaves a future quantum attacker an extremely small window of time to derive a user’s private key and forge a signature. The risk, therefore, is small, but Arc is not ignoring it.

“Arc’s roadmap is expected to target validator signature hardening after rigorous performance testing and the necessary tooling support are in place. Validator upgrades should happen when they are ready to preserve both resilience and network performance,” it said.

Circle has set out a multi-stage plan to harden its upcoming layer-1 network, Arc, against the potential risks posed by quantum computing, outlining changes that will eventually span wallets, validators, and supporting infrastructure.

Details shared Thursday indicate that the rollout will begin at launch, with Arc introducing quantum-resistant wallets and signature schemes when it goes live on mainnet, which is expected in 2026. 

Access to these protections will initially be optional, while bigger changes at the validator level and across infrastructure layers are scheduled for later phases.

“Quantum resilience cannot live only in research papers, exploratory pilots, or distant roadmap slides. It has to show up in the infrastructure,” Circle said, framing the effort as a practical deployment challenge rather than a theoretical one.

The timing of the roadmap aligns with renewed warnings from Google and researchers at the California Institute of Technology, who have argued that usable quantum systems may arrive sooner than earlier estimates suggested. 

Google’s recent findings drew attention after suggesting that Bitcoin’s cryptographic protections could, in a worst-case scenario, be broken within minutes under advanced quantum conditions.

“Active addresses that have already signed transactions must migrate before Q-Day because their public keys have been exposed,” the company noted, adding that delaying preparation raises avoidable risks.

Arc, which is already running on public testnet, is being positioned as an enterprise-focused blockchain built around USDC, with support for financial applications and institutional use cases. The first phase of its quantum security model will focus on protecting user access through upgraded cryptographic signatures.

Further down the line, Circle plans to extend those protections to ensure transaction data, balances, and other sensitive information remain private, even in a post-quantum environment. Longer-term upgrades will also target validator operations and off-chain systems, including cloud infrastructure, access controls, and hardware-level security.

Across the industry, few dispute that quantum computing presents a credible long-term challenge to existing cryptographic standards. 

What remains unsettled is the scope of that risk. Some researchers argue that only wallets with exposed public keys face immediate danger, while others maintain that a sufficiently advanced quantum system could threaten all funds secured under current systems.

Research from Google published on March 31 added another layer to that discussion, identifying Algorand as one of the networks best positioned for a post-quantum transition. 

At the same time, both Ethereum and Solana developers have been working through potential upgrades designed to prepare their ecosystems ahead of a so-called “Q-Day,” when quantum capabilities begin to outpace current encryption methods.

Key Takeaways

• XRP currently trades in the $1.30–$1.33 range, marking a decline exceeding 60% from its July 2025 all-time high of $3.65
• Total addresses on the XRP Ledger have surged to a new milestone of 8.1 million
• Wallets holding over 1 million XRP tokens are increasing for the first time since September 2025
• Critical price resistance level stands at $1.35, with a breakout potentially driving momentum toward $1.40
• The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the CLARITY Act in April 2026, which could serve as a significant market catalyst

As of early April 2026, XRP maintains a trading range between $1.30 and $1.33, reflecting a sustained downturn from its peak valuation of $3.65 reached in July 2025. This decline translates to a value reduction exceeding 60% across approximately nine months of trading.

While the token’s price has experienced significant contraction, blockchain metrics from CryptoQuant reveal that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) has achieved a new benchmark with 8,189,798 total addresses. This figure represents a quarterly growth rate of 3.39% during the first three months of 2026.

A notable shift in holder behavior has emerged: wallets containing 1 million or more XRP tokens have started increasing for the first time since September 2025. Market observers interpret this trend as evidence that major stakeholders are actively accumulating during the price weakness.

Despite a softening of the $XRP price that began in July 2025 (shown in black), wallets continue to climb (shown in blue).
👉8.1M #XRP Ledger wallets as of April 4, 2026
Source: CryptoQuant pic.twitter.com/vSpOd94jg7

— 🌸Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 5, 2026

Additional network developments include the expansion of automated market maker pools on the XRPL to approximately 28,000. The ecosystem has also broadened its reach through strategic collaborations, including a notable integration with Mastercard’s payment infrastructure.

Technical analyst ChartNerd (@ChartNerdTA) published commentary on X earlier this week, identifying XRP’s movement within a descending channel pattern characterized by progressively lower peaks and troughs. The analyst highlighted that the Relative Strength Index remains beneath neutral territory while trading volume lacks significant expansion, describing the action as “a weak continuation” instead of healthy consolidation.

$XRP: Compression Leads to Expansion. pic.twitter.com/ItYrL71FxT

— 🇬🇧 ChartNerd 📊 (@ChartNerdTA) April 5, 2026

Technical Analysis and Critical Price Zones

Recent price action shows XRP penetrating above a bearish trend line positioned at $1.3085 on the one-hour timeframe, subsequently advancing beyond the 50% Fibonacci retracement level calculated from the recent swing ranging from $1.3678 to $1.2801.

Believe in something $XRP pic.twitter.com/HuJx6NBHXl

— Amonyx (@amonyx) April 5, 2026

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Current price action maintains support above the $1.33 threshold and the 100-hour Simple Moving Average. Buying pressure attempted to push toward $1.3480 but encountered selling pressure at that level.

The primary resistance barrier stands at $1.35. A decisive close above this level could establish momentum toward $1.40, followed by subsequent targets at $1.4120 and $1.4250. Conversely, downside support zones are identified at $1.3240, $1.32, and a more substantial floor at $1.28.

Legislative Developments May Influence Price Trajectory

The most significant upcoming event for April 2026 centers on the U.S. Senate’s scheduled review of the CLARITY Act. Should this legislation receive approval, it would officially designate XRP as a digital commodity under regulatory frameworks.

Market analysts project that successful passage of this bill could trigger a price recovery, potentially driving valuations into the $1.65–$1.80 territory.

Trading data from April 6, 2026, shows XRP maintaining levels above $1.33, with bullish participants working to overcome the pivotal $1.35 resistance threshold that will likely dictate the subsequent price direction.

North Korean IT workers have been embedding themselves in crypto companies and decentralized finance projects for at least seven years, according to a cybersecurity analyst.

“Lots of DPRK IT workers built the protocols you know and love, all the way back to DeFi summer,” said MetaMask developer and security researcher Taylor Monahan on Sunday. 

Monahan claimed that over 40 DeFi platforms, some being well-known names, have had North Korean IT workers working on their protocols.

The “seven years of blockchain dev experience” on their resume is “not a lie,” she added.

The Lazarus Group is a North Korean-affiliated hacking collective that has stolen an estimated $7 billion in crypto since 2017, according to analysts at creator network R3ACH. 

It has been linked to the industry’s highest-profile hacks, including the $625 million Ronin Bridge exploit in 2022, the $235 million WazirX hack in 2024 and the $1.4 billion Bybit heist in 2025.

Monahan’s comments came just hours after the Drift Protocol said it had “medium-high confidence” that the recent $280 million exploit against it was carried out by a North Korean state-affiliated group.

DeFi execs speak up on DPRK infiltration attempts

Tim Ahhl, founder of the Titan Exchange, a Solana-based DEX aggregator, said that in a previous job, “we interviewed someone who turned out to be a Lazarus operative.”

Ahhl said the candidate “did video calls and was extremely qualified.” He declined an in-person interview and they later discovered his name in a Lazarus “info dump.” 

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has a website where crypto businesses can screen counterparties against updated OFAC sanctions lists and be alert to patterns consistent with IT worker fraud. 

Related: Drift Protocol says $280M exploit took ‘months of deliberate preparation’

Drift Protocol targeted by DPRK third-party intermediaries 

Drift Protocol’s postmortem on last week’s $280 million exploit also pointed to North Korean-affiliated hackers for the attack.

However, it said the face-to-face meetings that eventually led to the exploit were not with North Korean nationals, but rather “third-party intermediaries” with “fully constructed identities including employment histories, public-facing credentials, and professional networks.”

“Years later, and it seems Lazarus now has non-NKs [North Koreans] working for them to con people in person,” said Ahhl. 

Threats via job interviews are not sophisticated

Lazarus Group is the collective name for “all DPRK state-sponsored cyber actors,” explained blockchain sleuth ZachXBT on Sunday.

“The main issue is that everyone groups them all together when the complexity of threats is different,” he added. 

ZachXBT said that threats via job postings, LinkedIn, email, Zoom, or interviews are “basic and in no way sophisticated … the only thing about it is they’re relentless.”

“If you or your team still falls for them in 2026, you’re very likely negligent,” he said. 

Magazine: No more 85% Bitcoin collapses, Taiwan needs BTC war reserve: Hodler’s Digest