WhatsApp crash: Are decentralized blockchain messengers a real alternative?
Since the introduction of ICQ — the progenitor of online chat applications — the expectation from instant messaging (IM) services has never changed. Users simply want them to work, which apparently turned into a tall order, given the frequent downtimes most popular chat apps experience nowadays. Launched the same year as Bitcoin (BTC), WhatsApp is […]
WhatsApp down again? Google Trends spike after the outage
Some two billion WhatsApp users were left without service on Oct. 25 as the biggest messaging application worldwide went offline. Meta, the owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, is yet to clarify what led to the outage. Users took to social media platforms like Twitter to share hilarious memes about the outage, with many flocking to […]
WhatsApp starts testing currency payments with Meta’s Novi wallet
Despite some senators in the United States opposing Meta launching its digital currency products, the development of the social media giant’s digital wallet, Novi, continues apace. Stephane Kasriel, head of Meta’s cryptocurrency and fintech unit Novi, officially announced on Wednesday that Meta’s messenger subsidiary, WhatsApp, has started testing transactions through Meta’s Novi wallet. According to […]
Bitcoin moves past $49K as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp go down
Major social media and communication platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp went offline Monday as the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged. As data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows, the Bitcoin (BTC) price moved above $49,000 after falling to a daily low of $47,166, an increase of roughly 4.5% in less than two hours. Similarly, […]
Crypto leaders worry over threat from ‘big tech’ censorship
A change to WhatsApp’s terms of service has triggered a mass exodus from the messaging platform to more private and independent rivals like Telegram and Signal, which have registered millions of new users over the last week. Rather than agreeing to new terms specifying the app’s right to share user data with Facebook, millions of […]
FTC sues Facebook in antitrust lawsuit as regulators mount offensive
The United States Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Inc., where it alleges that the corporation has been engaging in anti-competitive practices ever since acquiring a dominant global position at the turn of the 2010s. According to public case files released on Wednesday, the regulator believes that Facebook has systematically purchased or […]