| Hi all, it's Zheping in Hong Kong. My life as a Chinese app super user is finally getting easier, but first… Today's top tech news: China's big tech companies don't typically allow rivals' content on their platforms. That's resulted in an awkward, siloed experience for users in the world's largest smartphone market. But things started to change last week when Tencent Holdings Ltd. opened up external links on its super-app WeChat. For global users, it would be the equivalent of Facebook letting you watch YouTube videos on its site for the first time in years. The move is an early response to Beijing's call to prune the so-called "walled gardens" of China's internet. The country's top tech-industry overseer has warned the likes of Tencent and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. against unfairly blocking links to rival services—the latest fixation of the government's months-long campaign to rein in big tech. Previously when I shared non-Tencent content—say a clip on TikTok's domestic cousin Douyin—to my friends on WeChat, they would have to copy and paste the link to open it in a web browser. Now, WeChat still warns them about protecting personal information if they do wish to click the link, but at least they no longer need to jump between apps.
Over the past decade, WeChat has become an indispensable part of Chinese daily life, expanding into areas from gaming to ride-hailing and food delivery. That wouldn't necessarily have been the case if it weren't an enclosed ecosystem binding users to services provided by Tencent and the umbrella of companies it's invested in. That may be why, even under regulatory pressure, WeChat has only provided support for external links in one-on-one messaging—not group chats or Facebook-like social feeds.
But there are silver linings for the company, too. For one, Tencent's ad sales could stand to benefit if WeChat displays more shopping links. And there's a possibility that Alibaba, in turn, will open up its digital marketplaces to WeChat's payment system, which will translate into more transaction fees to Tencent.
Back in 2013, it was Alibaba that fired the opening salvo by banning merchants on its Taobao platform from using WeChat to communicate with customers. That move quickly escalated into a tit-for-tat and then all-out war between the twin stars of China's internet. The moves consolidated their lead in their respective spheres, but made the services that much harder to navigate. Now that the walls are coming down, Chinese users could be the biggest winners. —Zheping Huang Robinhood is quietly testing new crypto wallet and cryptocurrency transfer features—long-awaited developments that could make it easier for users to send and receive digital currencies. American tech giants in Russia are facing bigger fines in the country as its government curbs access to information online. Coinbase dropped plans for a crypto lending program after the Securities and Exchange Commission pushback. Tech companies' pain in China could be Indian companies' gain. | 
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