The reason is probably really mundane, like the iOS Chrome team and Android Chrome team not working in lockstep or something of the sort. Like the iOS team planned it for 2023 Q4 and the Android team for 2024 Q1
It smacks of some VP of product development hating on the concept, despite it being optional, and wont back down over the decision. Most likely they used the navigation buttons on the bottom and this caused their great big sausage fingers a problem.
The first thing I do whenever I install anything is to go through the settings. To turn off trackers, analytics and explore the accessibility features.
Being at the bottom makes more sense on today's larger phones. I'm just so used to it being at the top it's hard to get used to it being at the bottom of the screen.
lol, if chrome isn't going to allow it on android then what's the point? Safari offers it (if it's the only feature you care about), and is a lot better then chrome.