Crypto Mining Apps Hiding in Plain Sight on Google PlayStore despite Ban

By Sumedha Bose

Google caused ripples in the market on July 27, by banning all crypto mining apps from their PlayStore platform. Their updated developer policy read “we don’t allow apps that mine cryptocurrency on devices.” However, it looks like some apps were able to conveniently deceive the internet giant by hiding in plain sight on the platform.

A recent report by Next Web which was made public on August 28, claims that quite a few cryptocurrency mining apps are still up on PlayStore, despite the ban. A grace period of a month was offered to developers for them to revise their applications and make them comply with the updated set of rules. Although that period is over, it looks like some crypto mining apps continue to function on the platform and have not yet been taken down.

Next Web’s research has yielded eight such apps which allow on-device mining that are still up and running on PlayStore. The report read:

Of the eight apps we found in our previous report, three have been removed – MinerGate, AA Miner, and Free BCH Miner. NeoNeonMiner, Crypto Miner PRO, Pickaxe Miner, and Pocket Miner all still remain, and only one of those, Bitcoin Miner, claims to have amended its offering to comply with the new terms. As we pointed out in our previous coverage, there was one app that even managed to launch to the Play Store after the ban.

The MinerGate app has been removed from the platform but the developers have told Hard Fork that the on-device mining feature has been removed from the app in order to comply with Google’s updated developer policy.

Google has taken a stringent anti crypto mining stance across all its platforms. Back in April, it announced that all mining extensions were to be removed from Chrome Web Store. It was an alleged reaction to claims of cryptojacking. It will be interesting to observe what course of action Google will take in regard to the policy violators.

Sumedha Bose

Sumedha uses words as her crutch to get by in life. She takes a keen interest in debating, dancing and destroying the patriarchy in her free time.

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