{"id":110,"date":"2026-01-09T13:23:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/?p=110"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:23:52","slug":"bitchat-downloads-surge-by-400000-amid-protests-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/?p=110","title":{"rendered":"BitChat Downloads Surge by 400,000 Amid Protests in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Iranian authorities have restricted internet access amid ongoing mass unrest. In response, the community has urged residents to use <strong>BitChat<\/strong>, an encrypted messenger supported by Jack Dorsey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <strong>Chromestats<\/strong>, the app saw over 43,000 downloads in the last 24 hours alone, with a weekly surge of 437,900. However, the exact percentage of downloads originating from Iran is currently unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BitChat has previously gained significant traction in Nepal and Indonesia during protests against local governments. A key feature of the messenger is that it <strong>does not require an internet connection<\/strong>: every Bluetooth-enabled device in the network acts as both a client and a relay, transmitting encrypted messages over distances of up to 30 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>High-speed internet and communication could also be provided by Elon Musk&#8217;s <strong>Starlink<\/strong> satellites. Users have called on the billionaire to deploy equipment in Iran, a move he previously made during rallies in June. Reports suggest Musk has already responded to these requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Probability of Iranian Leader&#8217;s Ouster Surpasses 50% on Polymarket<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Polymarket<\/strong> users currently estimate the probability of Ali Khamenei being overthrown at <strong>55%<\/strong>. This figure has jumped by 20% in the last 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The total betting volume has already exceeded <strong>$559,000<\/strong>. The sharp rise was triggered by mass protests and a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding potential strikes if the rallies are violently suppressed. The death toll from the unrest has already surpassed 45 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As recently as early January, traders estimated the probability of Khamenei&#8217;s departur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iranian authorities have restricted internet access amid ongoing mass unrest. In response, the community has urged residents to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-last-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/1stblock.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}