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Bitcoin banks the world – By July 2020, start-up Zap had managed to raise $3.5 million, notably from VISA. Already well known for its eponymous wallet on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN), the young company is now announcing the launch of its new universal payment product: Strike Global.
A launch with an international reach
It is via a publication on Medium that Jack Mallers, founder of Zap, has just revealed the launch of Strike Global, the worldwide version of his Strike product, until now only available in the United States.
In order to offer this brand new Bitcoin integrated banking service to the whole world, Mallers explains that Zap has entered into a partnership with the Bittrex Global exchange platform.
Bitcoin Core
Thus, as soon as Strike Global is launched – in addition to the US dollar already supported in the public beta – the euro, pound sterling and Swiss franc will be available to the first users in the coming weeks. The Australian dollar and the Crypto Legacy Canadian dollar are expected to follow later.
In addition, 2 stable corners of the US dollar will be available: Tether’s USDT, and Circle and Coinbase’s USDC.
„Strike is like a neo-bank native to the Bitcoin network. Our goal was to break down the barrier between the international banking system and the decentralised network, so that any current account can communicate directly with a Bitcoin portfolio. From there, the use cases made possible depend only on our imagination. For example, a user can link a bank account to his or her Strike account and directly start spending Bitcoins, whether on chain or on the Lightning Network. »
Namson Lê, UX Designer at Zap
A revolution in banking transactions?
What is so disruptive about Strike? As its founder says, this new offering makes it possible to move „any value anywhere in the world at no variable cost“ at the lightning speed of Bitcoin’s Lightning network.
This is enough to make traditional money transfer systems look like dinosaurs on the verge of extinction :
„It has also recently become clear that our infrastructure is far more efficient than most other existing technologies for transferring value between two different currencies. Where Western Union or Transfer Wise charge expensive fees and a few floating days to transfer dollars across US borders, Strike does it for free and in seconds. Once again, all this is made possible by coupling the rails of traditional finance and Bitcoin, especially LN. »
Namson Lê
The most beautiful? That the interaction between Strike and the accounts of conventional banks can be done simply and transparently. Indeed, Namson Lê revealed to the Journal du Coin that Zap plans to be able to „bank“ Strike users „during the course of the year“.
They will thus have their own account number and routing number (the US equivalent of our IBANs). They will therefore be able to use their Strike account as their main bank, first in the USA, then in Europe „if all goes well“ as Namson Lê explained to us.
Bitcoin, its blockchain and its Lighning Network are a major step forward in the world of payments and bank transfers. Strike Global could well be a kind of fulfilment of this vision. Get ready! What if the real crypto-revolution has just begun?
