Strike enables remittances to the Philippines via Bitcoin’s Lightning Network

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(Kitco News) – Strike, a digital payments platform based on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, has announced that it is expanding its international money transfer service to the Philippines in a bid to tap into the booming money remittance market. the country’s $12 billion fund.

The Lightning Network is a Layer 2 payment protocol built on top of Bitcoin that enables faster and cheaper transactions between participating nodes through the use of off-chain transactions.

According to a press release from the company, it will expand its “Send Globally” product to include users in the Southeast Asian country, enabling fast, secure and low-cost money transfers between the United States and the Philippines.

More than $35 billion in remittances are sent to the Philippines from overseas every year, including $12 billion from the United States, making it one of the largest remittance markets in the world.

Strike has partnered with Pouch.ph, a Philippines-based app that facilitates payments on the Lightning Network, to enable US dollar transfers that are received in Philippine pesos to a recipient’s bank or mobile account in the Philippines.

“Remittances are a broken system and Strike delivers an incredibly empowering experience that allows people to send money around the world in almost an instant,” said Jack Mallers, Founder and CEO of Strike. “We are thrilled to partner with Pouch.ph to advance financial inclusion and bring fast, inexpensive cross-border payments through the Lightning Network to the Philippines. Our technology allows us to both enhance the existing cross-border experience and to include those previously excluded by older payment systems.”

The Lightning Network enables faster, cheaper, and more accessible digital payments for people around the world, especially those who live in countries with high numbers of unbanked people.

In order to provide its service, Send Globally converts US dollars into bitcoins, which are then sent through the Lightning Network to a third-party partner operating in the recipient’s country. The BTC is then converted into the local currency and sent directly to the recipient’s bank or mobile money account. This eliminates concerns about Bitcoin’s tax treatment, dollar volatility, or custodial implications.

“The U.S.-to-Philippines remittance market is one of the largest in the world, and so far most Filipino-Americans have stuck with outdated options,” Ethan said. Rose, founder and CEO of Pouch.ph. “However, with the integration of Pouch.ph and Strike, we are revolutionizing the way cross-border payments are made, making it easy for people to send money to loved ones back home.”

A recent study conducted by Trading Browser shows that the Philippines ranks sixth in the world in terms of the most popular countries for owning and using cryptocurrency. Out of a population of over 108 million, 31.5 million citizens currently use or own cryptocurrency, an increase of 15.1 million (14%) from 2019 to 2022.

Top ten countries for owning and using cryptocurrency. Source: Commercial Browser

Send Globally launched in December 2022, with Strike partnering with Bitnob to support transfers from the United States to Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. A subsequent partnership between CoinCenter and Bitnob also allowed users from the UK to transfer money to Africa.

“The user experience and ability to connect communities in the United States and Africa in partnership with Bitnob has been transformational and the opportunities for Strike in these and other markets are growing rapidly,” the press release reads.

Send Globally will be available for remittance purposes and for use by tourists and businesses in the Philippines starting Tuesday.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. This is not a solicitation to trade commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article accept no responsibility for loss and/or damage resulting from the use of this publication.

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