Lea Petrasova – Breaking the Chains: Fighting Back Against Big Tech Censorship
Apple once promised the world it wouldn’t become Big Brother. Forty-one years later, it did exactly that. On the BTC Prague stage, I launched Freedom Store — a direct answer to years of censorship that has trapped Bitcoin developers and their users inside a walled garden with no way out.
Apple Didn’t Fight Big Brother. Apple Became Big Brother.
The hypocrisy is staggering. In 1984, Apple smashed the dystopian screen during the Super Bowl and championed freedom. Fast forward 41 years, and their own App Store became the tallest walled garden in history. A curated, controlled, sanitized garden of pure ideology — where anything that challenges their narrative simply doesn’t get through.
What Happened to Vexel
Vexel is a peer-to-peer, non-KYC Bitcoin marketplace. You can trade Bitcoin the way it was intended — directly, privately, within your circle of trust — no identity checks, no intermediaries. We went back and forth with Apple for months. We were trapped in a surreal review loop, unable to get a straight answer about why we couldn’t be distributed. Eventually, we found out: according to Apple, using cash is apparently reckless.
While we waited, we were pushed into TestFlight — a dead end with a user cap, terrible UX, and constant uncertainty. For Vexel, that means nearly 8,000 users across 59 countries stuck in limbo. More than half of my entire user base.
I’m Done. And I’m Not Alone.
There is only so much bullying one can take. I am done. And standing next to me are non-custodial wallets like BitKit and Bull Bitcoin, e-cash wallets like MiniBits and Sovereign, and Flash — a Bitcoin and Nostr-powered super app that lets you earn and spend Bitcoin without a bank account or ID. All of us have faced the same walls.
Introducing Freedom Store
Today I launched Freedom Store — and I’m speaking directly to Apple users in the European Union: it’s time to uninstall 1984. Reclaim your apps. Reclaim your privacy. Reclaim your choice. Sideloading is your right under EU law, and we are ready to help you do it.
And if you’re done with Apple forever, download Vexel and find a 5% discount code for Nitrophone — the most secure Android device on the planet, powered by GrapheneOS.
The choice is yours. I offer you open source values and digital sovereignty. Uninstall 1984 — via Freedom Store.
Smart Bitcoiners plan ahead.
Get your tickets now!
FAQ
On Thursday and Friday, the event venue will be open from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. On Saturday, it will be open from 8:00 AM until 2:00 AM, when everyone can look forward to a great afterparty.
The conference is in English. The Main Stage, Expo Stage, and Expo Area are all in English. The outdoor stage for local audience is in Czech.
We are hosting BTC Prague in a country and city that has given the Bitcoin world many great projects. The whole event was born out of this fertile ground. As organizers, we curate the topics, speakers and companies. Our goal is to talk about the most important topics, help Bitcoin adoption and bring the community together. We devote our energy to making the atmosphere at the event welcoming and friendly as well, giving rise to new connections and ideas.
