Strike, the leading digital payment platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, has announced the expansion of the product “Send Global” to the Philippines. This will enable fast, secure and low-cost money transfers between the US and the Philippines, which is one of the world’s largest remittance markets. The Philippines relies on more than $35 billion in remittances annually, with more than $12 billion coming from the US alone.
Strike has partnered with Pouch.ph to enable transfers from US dollars to Philippine Pesos, which can be received in any bank or mobile money account in the Philippines.
Strike uses the Lightning Network to make digital payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible, especially in countries with high numbers of unbanked individuals. With Send Globally, dollars are converted to bitcoins, sent via the Lightning Network to third-party partners in the recipient’s country, then converted to local currency and sent directly to the recipient’s bank or mobile money account. This eliminates the need for senders and receivers to worry about the tax treatment of bitcoins, dollar volatility or custody implications.
“Remittances are a broken system and Strike delivers an incredible experience empowering people to send money around the world quickly,” said Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike. “We are excited to partner with Pouch.ph to advance financial inclusion and bring fast, low-cost cross-border payments through the Lightning Network to the Philippines. Our technology allows us to enhance the existing cross-border experience and include those previously excluded from legacy payment rails.
Bitcoin Magazine was lucky enough to interview Mallers about the development, which you can watch below:
Global Send launches in December 2022 starting with transfers from the US to Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. CoinCorner has also partnered with Pouch.ph to enable delivery for European customers.
With the integration of Pouch.ph and Strike, the cross-border payment experience has been revolutionized and gives you more power to send money to your loved ones at home. Lightning will continue to expand into other markets with other partners to provide better payment services to communities around the world.