India’s prime cybercrime watchdog has ordered GitHub to take down Bitchat, the offline messaging app constructed by Block chief government and bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey, as anti-government protesters in Delhi undertake mesh-networking instruments to speak by repeated web shutdowns.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, a part of the Dwelling Ministry, issued the order late Thursday beneath Part 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, naming three GitHub repositories tied to Bitchat and giving the platform three hours to disable entry.
The discover, reviewed by CoinDesk, says the app permits nameless communication with out registration, cellphone numbers or centralized logging, and that its structure “considerably impedes lawful interception, attribution, and investigation by legislation enforcement companies.”
Bitchat is a decentralized messaging app that relays encrypted messages between telephones over Bluetooth mesh networks, requiring no web, servers or accounts. Dorsey launched it as open-source software program in July 2025.
Bitchat is constructed to relay bitcoin transactions offline, passing them cellphone to cellphone by the mesh till a tool with connectivity broadcasts them to the community, a design meant to maintain funds alive throughout blackouts, disasters or state-imposed shutdowns.
