Google’s Play Store for Android smartphone apps seems to have taken down several notable apps reporting on cryptocurrencies and blockchain news.
As of 2:00 PM EST, apps of crypto news sites including Cointelegraph and CoinDesk were unavailable on the Play Store. This removal has come as a surprise to the crypto community.
<img width="1450" height="1502" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.cryptonewspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/80a40f2a72e748ff8274582d22c1d064.jpg?fit=989%2C1024&ssl=1" alt="Screenshots of results returned for Cointelegraph and CoinDesk : Source: Cointelegraph" class="wp-image-11817 lazyload" />
Screenshots of results returned for Cointelegraph and CoinDesk : Source: Cointelegraph
This is not the first time that the Play Store has set its sights on crypto. Near the end of December, the store took down an app for MetaMask.
At the time, MetaMask co-lead developer Dan Findlay said:
“I very much hope that this was an honest mistake on the part of Google’s reviewers, but in combination with all the crypto YouTube bans, it definitely puts me at disease about how Google is engaging with decentralizing technologies.”
Findlay was referring to Youtube’s then-ongoing ban on crypto content, which, though it lasted only a few days, made major waves in the community. The Google Play store had also previously banned several crypto-related apps.
Source: Cointelegraph.com