The Bitcoin Lightning Network is taking fiat to every corner of the world, thanks to the startup Zap Inc., partner of Visa. Jack Mallers, founder of Zap, said Strike - the startup's Bitcoin wallet and banking service - is rolling out support for the euro, pound and Swiss franc, soon followed by the Australian and Canadian dollar after partnering with cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex Global. .
Zap intends to conquer the global market
Described by Mallers as a "neo-Bitcoin bank," Strike leverages the Bitcoin network and Lightning Network's scaling technology to move quickly from point A to point B. Zap plans to provide banking services in up to 200 countries .
Additionally, Strike will also list the popular stablecoin tether (USDT) and USD coin (USDC) from a pilot program in El Salvador. Stablecoins were one of the flagship products of the cryptocurrency industry in 2020.
In that year, the market capitalization of dollar-pegged tokens increased from about $ 7 billion to over $ 30 billion, according to Messari. Mallers said Bittrex Global will handle behind-the-scenes operations with tokens, which are typically issued on the Ethereum blockchain.
Strike itself does not support ether tokens (quotation ETH) or based on Ethereum. Rather, each USDC tether or token is credited to an account on Bittrex and reported on Strike's internal database, he said.
Mallers chose El Salvador to pilot the stablecoin project due to its large availability of dollars, Bitcoin ATMs and because it is one of the largest remittance markets in the world. Neighboring Venezuela is next on the list, he added, with more stablecoin case studies on the way.
How Strike works
Strike moves with the real-time buying and selling of bitcoin (BTC) on the Lightning Network, an experimental scaling solution built on the Bitcoin blockchain. For example, to send money to a Berlin designer from the United States, Mallers explained, Strike will automatically convert the fiat into bitcoin.
That bitcoin is then sent to a Strike Lightning node residing in the jurisdiction of the other currency. An automatic conversion between bitcoin and euro will conclude the transaction by depositing fiat in the Strike app, Mallers said.
This maneuver has two results, Mallers said. Firstly, the fees are really low. Second, Mallers argues that exchanging two fiat currencies through an unauthorized intermediary like Bitcoin creates a "true" exchange rate.
Zap has also rolled out an untold number of Bitcoin and Lightning nodes around the world to support the project. The startup joined Visa's Fast Track program in 2020. Leveraging the Visa partnership, Strike is launching its debit card in the US and EU in the first and second quarters respectively, Mallers said.
The Bittrex Global partnership follows the launch of Strike's latest “salary” feature, already used by professional athlete and Bitcoin supporter Russell Okung and other players from the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets.
