BitChat Rises To The Top of Social Apps On iOS In Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa

While Hurricane Melissa paralyzed telecom networks in Jamaica, an unexpected application rose to the top of the mobile charts. It is BitChat, a peer-to-peer messaging tool without Internet. We tell you more in the following paragraphs.

BitChat, the decentralized response to the collapse of networks in Jamaica

Hurricane Melissa abruptly cut access to telecommunications on the island. With national connectivity reduced to 30% and lines damaged by winds of 295 km/h, traditional means of communication quickly gave up. Until then confidential, BitChat then took over.

Without Internet, the application transforms each phone into an active node. Thanks to its Bluetooth mesh protocol, messages move from one device to another, nearby. Result: information continues even without signal.

This local propagation capability allowed to :

• share alerts; 
• locate shelters; 
• organize rescues.

According to the data, BitChat rose to the top of the App Store in the social category in Jamaica in just a few hours. It even reached the second place across all platforms, just behind Zoom Earth, a weather app.

From Kathmandu to Kingston: when the crisis propels BitChat to the forefront

This is not the first time BitChat attracts attention in a chaotic context. In September, Nepal saw the app explode after a government ban on social networks: over 48,000 downloads in less than a week.

Same scenario in Indonesia, Madagascar, and Ivory Coast, where protests and Internet shutdowns favored its adoption.

In these situations, BitChat indeed bypasses classic blockages. No central server, no ID required, and no dependency on a mobile or Wi-Fi connection. Its peer-to-peer operation thus gives it unique resilience, coupled with native encryption that guarantees the confidentiality of exchanges.

Each new crisis reveals a little more the interest of this technology. Indeed, this app is now no longer seen as a mere curiosity from the crypto world. It becomes an operational coordination tool, used to meet concrete needs on the ground.

With BitChat, decentralization is therefore anchored in reality (serving collective autonomy). The question remains whether this model will remain confined to crises or if it will initiate a lasting transformation of our uses.