Bitcoin Company Strike is Relocating to El Salvador

Bitcoin payments company Strike has anticipated that it will grow across 65 countries in the coming years and expand its list of clients to roughly three billion souls.

Strike Wants a Change of Scenery

Jack Mallers – CEO of the Chicago-based company – explained in a recent interview:

We think there are billions of people that want a money app with those characteristics and capabilities contrasted to a clouded world of crypto exchanges and hidden, unregistered licensing regimes and 1,000 different coins.

Strike says it’s also going to be moving its headquarters to El Salvador, the Central American nation that has proven very bitcoin friendly over the past two years given it was the first to label the world’s largest digital currency as legal tender. This means that many companies are now required to accept it as a method of payment alongside USD, which the country has long depended on.

Mallers continued with:

Two years ago, people would have made fun of me [for our] headquarters in El Salvador to launch a product for three billion people, but now Coinbase is fighting with [Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair] Gary Gensler. Who’s laughing now?

He is, of course, referring to a situation in which a Wells notice was sent to Coinbase, America’s leading digital currency exchange, citing potential securities violations that the company would be tried for. The company took serious issue with the notice given, according to executive statements, it had met with representatives of the SEC several times over a nine-year period to ensure compliance. Mallers said:

I think bitcoin stands alone [in] just how obvious it is that it is owned by nobody. Every other instrument in this industry has a founding team, a foundation, and they issued some [tokens] privately and handed them out in auctions before they went live, and that sounds a lot more like a security.

Mallers also mentioned that his company chose USDT (Tether) over Circle and Coinbase’s USDC stable currency given that he feels people outside of the United States don’t really “trust” the former company. He stated:

If I’m being totally honest, Circle is built for American institutions.

While Circle may not be appreciated outside of American institutions, Tether has raised quite a bit of controversy over the years and is continuing to do so with its recent announcement that it’s purchased loads of BTC.

Trying to Make the App Better

Maneula Rios – the vice president of product with Strike – said the company is also focusing on making its app more user friendly. Rios said:

Our end goal is to address the seven to eight billion people in every single country. If you are in the United States, the apps are gorgeous. There’s a high bar for design. Unfortunately, that’s not the case when you download apps abroad.

Tags: coinbase, El Salvador, Strike