- Strike has expanded its services to Europe to continue its recent expansion boom
- Europeans can utilize the Lightning Network for fast and cost-effective Bitcoin transactions
- Strike is now available in almost 100 countries, but not the UK
Bitcoin payments app Strike has launched in Europe following expansion in Latin America and Africa. In a press release announcing the news, Strike said that its services now reach almost 100 countries across the globe, calling the move into Europe a “significant milestone.” Not only can users leverage the Lightning Network to send bitcoins to any other Strike users quickly and at a fraction of the cost of international wires, they can also fund their account with fiat currencies to buy bitcoin and withdraw funds back into their accounts. The move brings founder and CEO Jack Mallers’ 2022 claim that the platform was going to launch in more than fifty countries to fruition.
Expansion Finally Reaches Europe
Strike has been on an expansion mission ever since it was revealed to be the infrastructure that underpinned El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin in 2021. The following year Mallers said that he wanted to see Strike operating in at least 50 countries, a number that was crossed in 2023 after deals with various regional operators allowed the app and its Send Globally feature, which allows instant Bitcoin transfers anywhere in the world, to expand to multiple countries in the US, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Yesterday, Mallers took to Strike’s blog to announce that, following years of requests from would-be customers, the company was finally able to launch in Europe, “giving millions of people access to buy bitcoin with free, instant, and unlimited deposits, sell, send, and withdraw bitcoin, global payments, bitcoin and lightning wallet features, and more.”
Announcing Strike Europe 🇪🇺
Today, we’re launching Strike Europe, expanding our full suite of products to all eligible European customers
Buy #bitcoin, free on-chain withdrawals, a full-featured Lightning wallet and more. Get the best of #Bitcoin with @Strike
When EU?!? Now 🫡 pic.twitter.com/mR9mFRzeZk
— Jack Mallers (@jackmallers) April 24, 2024
Strike’s move into Europe couldn’t have come at a better time for those wanting to send small amounts of bitcoin, with the launch of Runes sending fees spiraling to over $30 per transaction. The Lightning Network on which Strike is based allows transactions to be sent instantly, while fees are fractions of a cent rather than multiple dollars.
While the EU can enjoy Strike from today, UK residents will have to wait, with Brexit meaning that the company will have to deal with UK-specific rules and regulations.
Nice one.
