In an announcement made some days back, Jack Mallers, founder of Strike announced Strike’s expansion into some African countries.

WHAT IS STRIKE?

Strike is an application that allows users to make payments on the Lightning network (Bitcoin’s most popular layer 2 network) using a debit card or bank account. Simply put, it is a product that offers Bitcoin and Lightning services to enable seamless payments, giving the masses easy access to Bitcoin. The only cryptocurrencies Strike enables on its application are Bitcoin and USDT, a popular stablecoin. The company believes that Bitcoin is the one true currency hence the focus on coin.

Strike was launched in January 2020 and is built on Olympus, a brainchild of Jack Mallers.

STRIKE AFRICA

On the 27th of February, Jack Mallers tweeted announcing Strike Africa. Strike Africa is Strike’s expansion into the African market in Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Gabon, and Malawi with more African countries to be included later on.

In response to the decision to expand to Africa, the announcement blog post highlighted various reasons why Africa is a potential ground for Strike.

~ Many African countries are going through high inflation rates resulting in currency devaluation, especially in recent times. Nigeria’s currency, for instance, has experienced its highest depreciation rate. Strike believes that Bitcoin’s hedge against inflation can help the dying economies of these African countries. With the use of Strike, citizens of these African countries can get access to Bitcoin.

~ Another highlighted reason for Strike’s launch in Africa is the high transaction cost of remittance payments. Africa ranks among the highest in the list of continents where remittances are on the increase but the high payment costs that platforms impose is another reason why Africans are drawn to the crypto space. Strike aims to feast on this opportunity by bringing Bitcoin services to Africa.

With Strike’s launch in Africa, customers in the supported countries can:

1. Buy and sell Bitcoin seamlessly.

2. Buy and sell USDT.

3. Send USDT & Bitcoin payments via their Lightning wallet addresses.

4. Receive USDT & Bitcoin payments via their Lightning wallet addresses.

5. Cash out these cryptocurrencies to their local currencies (NGN, ZAR, ZMW, XAF).

6. Cross-border payments and more.

“Strike Africa is just the beginning. Our commitment to Bitcoin has never been stronger and we will continue to launch new regions throughout 2024.”