Strike Payments Platform Integrates Shopify and Bitcoin Payments

Key Insights:

• Shopify merchants will be able to receive Bitcoin and cash out in USD.
• Strike uses the Lightning Network, which enables faster, cheaper BTC transactions.
• CEO Jack Mallers labeled credit cards “boomeristic” and said the payments system hadn’t been upgraded for 50 years.

The partnership announced on April 7 will enable Shopify merchants in the U.S. to receive Bitcoin payments from customers globally in U.S. dollars.

Strike CEO Jack Mallers said that the payments processing industry has been stagnant for 55 years, and it was time to revolutionize it. He added:

“The Lightning Network is a global payments network that lowers costs, enhances speed, drives innovation, improves financial inclusion, and brings the power of choice to consumers and merchants.”

The Lightning Network is a Bitcoin layer two scaling solution that enables faster and cheaper micro-payments across the network. In its native state, Bitcoin is too slow to be used for everyday payments as it can only process around seven transactions per second.  The Lightning Network can process thousands of transactions per second, making it ideal for Bitcoin [BTC] payments with apps such as Strike.

Big Deal For Merchants

The move is a big deal for Shopify [SHOP] merchants, who will be able to accept payments globally, save costs on processing fees, and get a settlement in cash. This would enable them to reach untapped markets and purchasing power.

There are 1.7 million businesses around the world that use Shopify, and it is the third-largest e-commerce platform in the U.S., with a 10.9% market share, according to reports. The firm was sued this month for its involvement in the Ledger hardware wallet data breach in 2020.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Mallers said that the integration was already live, with merchants already accepting payments in BTC and cashing out in greenbacks.

He railed on the “boomeristic” credit card system and touted Bitcoin as the future of payments and settlements.

Strike has also integrated peer-to-peer Bitcoin payments using the Lightning Network. The company has partnered with alternative payments processor Blackhawk and point-of-sale provider NCR to facilitate these transactions.

Stablecoins on Lightning

Earlier this week, it was reported that Lightning Labs, a Bitcoin software developer, has secured a $70 million funding round.

This will enable the company to develop a system called Taro which will allow stablecoins to be sent and received on the Lightning Network.

The firm believes that the upgrade will boost Bitcoin adoption, potentially allowing the unbanked in developing countries to send money using stablecoins. It may also be used in the Strike Shopify collaboration, but that has yet to be confirmed.