Major digital payment platform Strike has announced a collaboration with global e-commerce giant Shopify. This partnership means that eligible merchants can receive bitcoin payments via the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a layer-2 scaling solution for Bitcoin built for faster and cheaper transactions.
CEO of Strike, Jack Mallers, made this update known while speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami on 7 April 2022. He added that two million global Shopify merchants could accept bitcoin payments in US currency.
“We’re proud to partner with Shopify to provide merchants with a cheaper and faster way to accept U.S. dollars using Bitcoin technology,” announced Jack Mallers.
He continued, “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.”
Shopify Merchants to Benefit From Collaboration
According to market research site Macrotrends, Shopify is the world’s 18th largest e-commerce company with about $4.6 billion in annual revenue. Its services enable merchants to create online stores in 175 different countries.
The Bitcoin 2022 official Twitter handle stated the integration was already live while quoting Mallers criticism of the modern payments system, which started in 1949 with the Diners Club card:
“Any online merchant that uses Shopify can accept payments without the 1949 boomer network, receive it instantly, cash final, no intermediary no 3% fee.”
Additionally, Mallers mentioned that one of the main advantages of using Bitcoin via Lightning is speed. Merchants do not have to worry about the “late, two to fifteen-day settlement,” which is a drawback of existing standard electronic payment methods. He also noted that instant settlements could help buyers and sellers know their actual balance and compute their financial positions quickly.
Mallers also made known Strike’s partnership with the Blackhawk payment network, reportedly the most prominent point of sale supplier globally. The company draws $2.5 billion in annual revenue, and its website states that it has products at over 400,000 storefronts in 28 countries.
Easy Payment With Strike
Shopify merchants can access easy payment of bitcoin as dollars through the integration of Strike. Furthermore, merchants can save costs on processing fees with the cash-final settlement, diversify existing payment options, reach untapped global market and purchasing power, generate savings and remove unnecessary complexities in holding bitcoin.
The Strike feature offers an alternative experience to traditional card networks by leveraging the technology of the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which will allow instant, global, cash-final payments while also eliminating legacy processing fees like interchange. In addition, Strike’s integration is accessible by any consumer globally with a Bitcoin Lightning Network-enabled wallet, including more than 70 million CashApp users.
