Strike, which claims to be the world’s leading digital payment provider built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, announced it has “raised an $80 million funding round led by Ten31 and joined by Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Wyoming, and other investors, with participation from existing investors.”
The capital will be “used to drive Strike’s efforts to revolutionize payments for the largest merchants, marketplaces, and financial institutions in the payments industry.”
Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike and a pioneer of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, said:
“We’re moving full speed ahead not just to integrate Strike’s revolutionary payments with leading merchants, but globally, with a variety of businesses and partners to innovate and deliver on more financial inclusion. We appreciate the continued support of investors who’ve backed Strike since our founding and are excited to welcome new partners to support our mission, disrupt the industry, and define the future of payments with a truly global, open, secure, instantaneous, virtually free network.”
The funding comes “on the heels of Strike’s public launch of its flagship API.”
Initial partners “include some of the world’s largest point of sale and e-commerce platforms such as Blackhawk, NCR, and Shopify.”
The Strike integration “offers an alternative experience to traditional card networks by leveraging the underlying technology of the Bitcoin Lightning Network to allow for instant, global, cash-final payments while eliminating legacy processing fees like interchange.”
Strike’s integration is “accessible by any consumer in the world that can move money using the Lightning Network, including more than 70 million Cash App users.”
Grant Gilliam, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Ten31, said:
“Strike and Ten31 have a shared vision for the positive impact Bitcoin can have on the world and are mutually aligned on accelerating its adoption. It was, therefore, a natural fit to partner with Strike as its lead investor. We believe Strike is poised to disrupt the financial services and payments landscape, enabling a more efficient, innovative, and inclusive financial experience for everyone. We are excited about supporting Strike’s next phase and strengthening our partnership together.”
The strike will use the capital “to further enhance its growth, continue expanding existing partnerships, and launch new partnerships.”
Jack said:
“Enabling a cheaper, faster, and open payment network with some of the biggest financial institutions in the world isn’t fast and easy, but it’s happening. Every company that’s in the business of moving money is interested in superior payments, and we’re in talks with many of them. It doesn’t get any bigger and more exciting than innovating in payments for the betterment of the world.”
Beyond its commerce API, Strike also “plans to release new product lines enabling entirely new types of customers, such as large financial institutions and businesses, to not only receive payments but send them as well.”
With these products, any financial service can easily “integrate Strike’s world-class payments infrastructure without any need to build in-house solutions.”
In this world, businesses can enable payment experiences for their customers, “allowing them to move their dollars around the world, shop online, and make micropayments in ways that were previously impossible.”