Bitcoin Payments App Strike Expands to 65 Nations

Bitcoin2023 Miami is witnessing memorable keynote speeches and revelations regarding the crypto industry. U.S. Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard announced that she would be accepting Bitcoin donations for her political campaign and spoke about American CBDC, etc. CEO Jack Mallers announced that Bitcoin payments app Strike is expanding in over 65 countries.

Strike Now Serving Around 3 Billion People

The announcement came from the stage of the Bitcoin2023 Conference taking place in Miami from May 18 to 20, 2023, by the 29-year-old founder of Strike. He is also the founder of Zap Solutions. The Bitcoin payment app will now expand to over 65 countries from a current count of 3. It will be leveraging the lightning network for its transactions.

The 65 countries are spread across six continents, including Africa, Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean. The application would also serve smaller countries like Antigua, Vanuatu, Barbuda, Zambia, etc.

With this expansion, the company wishes to target over 3 Billion individuals. They aim to serve around 7-8 Billion people worldwide, says Manuela Rios, the company’s VP. The Strike would provide its users spread worldwide with the facility to circumvent the complexities of crypto exchanges. Exposing them to over a thousand different coins on a single financial application.

Initially based in Chicago, United States, Bitcoin payment company Strike had recently relocated its headquarters to El Salvador. Citing the hostile regulatory environment in the U.S., Its parent company is a New York-based Bitcoin investment company Zap, utilizing the lightning network.

The lightning network is a layer-2 blockchain network, a payment protocol layered on the Bitcoin blockchain. Serving as a secondary network enabling faster, cheaper, and more secure Bitcoin transactions across the network, providing a solution to BTC’s scalability problem.

Strike’s Exciting New Features

Certain exciting features are added to the Strike app, including the facility to transact in USDT. This facility would be beneficial for users wanting to avoid investing in Bitcoin. Also, it would smooth the process of circumventing inflation by allowing investment in USDT, a stablecoin.

A rival app, CoinCorner, also allows global Bitcoin transactions via its “Send Globally” feature, but the transactions could only be made in local fiats. With Strike, these users can have the security of USD equivalent stablecoin against weaker fiat.

Speaking at Bitcoin2023, Strike VP Rios said that with this feature, users could send dollars and receive local fiat directly into their bank accounts. During their research, their team found that people living in countries with weaker currencies found this feature excellent and rejoiced with the exposure to a USD equivalent stablecoin.

Mallers also announced the company’s plan to release a debit card by the end of 2023.

In the latest update, a new User Interface is launched, which is said to be more user-friendly, especially for foreign customers. Generally, the user experience (UX) in other countries could be better compared to the United States.

A cleaner UI with a new logo will enhance the onboarding experience if it is coupled with a highly simplified and seamless sign-up process. The new feature responded to consumers’ demand for LnURL support, a protocol facilitating communication between the Lightning Network and third-party applications.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing