It has been reported that Shopify and Strike have teamed together to make it easier for retailers to accept bitcoin payments in US dollars.
On Thursday, Strike CEO Jack Mallers announced a series of high-profile Lightning Network agreements with e-commerce giant Shopify. At last year’s conference, Mallers, who was influential in El Salvador’s announcement, sounded contemplative about Bitcoin’s position as a payments platform.
Mallers said Strike collaborated with NCR, the world’s largest POS supplier and payments company, Blackhawk.
The Lightning Network-based technology will operate with online purchases from Shopify businesses and many major chain retailers.
Strike CEO Jack Mallers told Thursday afternoon to a crowded gathering at a Miami Bitcoin conference that it is a new, creative, superior payments train that is finally integrated and spread into the lives of Americans. He then showed a video of him using the technology at an actual Chicago grocery shop.
Mallers gave a speech titled “The King’s Gambit” to a crowded auditorium in which he detailed the history of payment systems and credit cards and explained the mechanics of card transactions.
Mallers, a supporter of the Lightning Network, claimed he would restore Bitcoin to its payment roots.
Mallers suggested that individuals will be able to walk into a grocery store, Whole Foods, and Chipotle and utilize a Lightning node over Tor. People can also use CashApp if they wish to. The audience erupted in applause and shouts when he made this statement.
In addition to Whole Foods, McDonald’s, Walgreens, CVS, and Wal-Mart, Mallers listed numerous more grocery businesses and restaurants that would be able to take this type of payment.
Strike revealed in a press release on April 7 that their Shopify connection is available to anybody with a Bitcoin Lightning Network-enabled wallet, including over 70 million CashApp users. One of its early partners is Warren Lotas of Los Angeles.
According to him, they can revolutionize the world if they help make the Bitcoin system more available and accessible. The boomer-bank-supplied credit cards, he says, have a caviar-eating past and haven’t been innovated in years save for the onboarding intermediaries and their fees. He believes that using Bitcoin as a primary payment network is vital.
He claims a more robust payment network that allows them to develop hasn’t existed since 1949; therefore, they want to construct one from scratch.
To put it simply, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network “carries all the properties” for local success, said Mallers.
He further adds that Strike would collaborate with Shopify’s worldwide merchant network to enable Bitcoin Lightning payments for those who wanted to participate.
According to a press release, Strike’s integration allows Shopify businesses to expand their payment alternatives and target untapped worldwide markets. With Strike’s connection, Shopify retailers may save money on payment processing.
Strike simplifies the handling of bitcoin payments by rapidly converting BTC to USD.
Maller’s announcement may accelerate mainstream adoption of Lightning Network. Earlier Tuesday, Robinhood Markets (HOOD) said its new wallet would allow Lightning Network bitcoin transactions.
Mallers stated that this was to defend America’s ability to innovate.
He continued by assuring the public that he has been working with policymakers to guarantee that they have the freedom to construct freely in this nation, noting that he has collaborated on such legislation with Wyoming’s bitcoin-loving Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R).
In the days preceding the conference, Mallers teased the news on Twitter and in an interview, hinting that his session would probably have something to do with linking retailers to cryptocurrency.
Blackhawk Network has 37,000 partners and 400,000 stores, according to Mallers’ presentation. Another presentation stated that NCR is accountable for one in every six POS systems worldwide.
