At the Bitcoin 2023 event in Miami Beach, Strike, a global bitcoin payments app , made an exciting announcement. They revealed that their service is now available in an additional 65 countries across six continents. Alongside this expansion, Strike introduced a new feature that enables users to receive funds in U.S. dollar equivalents, specifically USDT. Furthermore, bitcoin payments app Strike underwent a significant facelift and overhaul, resulting in a cleaner user interface (UI), a more user-friendly experience (UX), and a new logo.
The inclusion of many countries that were highly requested by Bitcoin Twitter users allows for instant money transfers using the Lightning Network. Manuela Rios, the Vice President of Product at Strike, elaborated on the app’s enhanced reach, stating that it now effectively serves 3 billion people.
Rios explained the value proposition of the “Send Globally” feature, which enables users to send dollars and receive the equivalent amount in the local currency directly into a bank account on the receiving end. However, she emphasized that this particular feature distinguishes itself by addressing the requests of users in jurisdictions with weak currencies, who expressed their desire for a dollar equivalent.
“Globally, you don’t see a seamless experience.”
In regards to purchasing Bitcoin, Rios said that “globally, you don’t see a seamless experience.” So the new Strike app also functions as a Lightning wallet where you can buy and sell bitcoin via dollar equivalent rails.
At his speech at Bitcoin 2023, Strike CEO Jack Mallers explained the wider vision of the updates, saying “We’re delivering a cash balance that the global south can rely on, and an awesome beautiful punk unconventional black and white brand, as the Fed is driving our own banks insolvent.”
He also highlighted the company’s response to feedback, displaying a set of tweets asking for LNURL support, shortly after announcing that the new app has LNURL support — all usernames@strike.me function as a LNURL as of the launch.
“We made a lot of product changes to support what we hope to become an amazing global money app,” Mallers said. “As a company, we know what we’re fighting for, we know who we are, we changed the way we looked, but we never changed the way we felt.”
In addition to the new features and access, the app includes a simplified sign-up process in order to make signing up easier. “The end goal for us is to serve 7-8 billion people, and we’ll be stepping our way to make it to the countries that didn’t make it in this MVP,” Rios explained.
Rios highlighted the impact of the launch and the newly introduced features, emphasizing, “Bitcoiners can expect a beautiful Lightning wallet and a cost-effective method to purchase bitcoin. For individuals who may not be well-versed in bitcoin yet but are familiar with the challenges of 109% inflation, the availability of a U.S. dollar equivalent stablecoin is groundbreaking. Now, they can save their money in something that won’t experience rapid devaluation.”