Strike
Buy, sell & send bitcoin with ultra-low fees, high limits, and smooth transactions.
Website: https://strike.me/
Cover Block
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Strike |
| Tagline | Buy, sell and send bitcoin with ultra-low fees, high limits, and smooth transactions |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | B2C (with emerging B2B payments layer) |
| Industry | Fintech / Bitcoin payments |
| Technology | Bitcoin Lightning Network |
| Geography | Global, with operations in the US, El Salvador, and Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture scale |
| Funding Label | $50M+ (total disclosed approximately $80,000,000) |
Links
- Website: https://strike.me/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinstrike
- Blog: https://strike.me/blog/
- Dashboard: https://dashboard.strike.me/login
Executive Summary
Strike is a Chicago-based Bitcoin financial application built on the Lightning Network. It allows retail users to buy, sell, send, and pay with bitcoin at low cost. The company is one of the few Western consumer fintechs that has shipped a working cross-border Bitcoin payments stack while also securing direct banking and licensing relationships [Strike.me][Strike Blog]. The company was founded in 2020 by Jack Mallers, who became publicly associated with El Salvador's 2021 adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender and used that moment to anchor Strike's brand around borderless money [Bitstamp Learn Center][Strike Blog].
The core product differentiation rests on Lightning-native rails, a tiered fee model that replaced spread-based pricing for US customers, and feature depth (Bill Pay, Cost Basis tracking, global buy) that pushes Strike beyond a pure exchange experience [Strike Blog]. Mallers' background is operator-led; his public record centers on Lightning protocol advocacy and the El Salvador rollout. Strike's executive bench is not extensively documented in public sources. Capital-wise, Strike disclosed an $80 million round announced in September 2022 led by Ten31, with participation from Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Wyoming, Valor Capital Group, and Kube VC [BusinessWire, Sep 27, 2022][CoinDesk, Sep 2022]. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the items worth tracking are European user growth following the April 2024 launch [BusinessWire, April 2024], whether the self-operated infrastructure stack translates into margin expansion, and how Strike navigates US regulatory posture toward Bitcoin payment intermediaries.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by BusinessWire, CoinDesk, and the company's own product disclosures.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | B2C |
| Industry / Vertical | Fintech / Bitcoin payments |
| Technology Type | Blockchain / Lightning Network |
| Geography | Global, headquartered in the United States |
| Growth Profile | Venture scale |
| Funding | ~$80M disclosed |
How the Company Got Here
Strike was founded in 2020 by Jack Mallers and grew out of his earlier work on Zap, a Lightning Network wallet project. PitchBook lists the corporate entity under the legacy name Zap Solutions, headquartered at 200 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2650, Chicago, Illinois [PitchBook]. The company's origin narrative is tightly bound to El Salvador. Shortly after launch, Mallers and the early Strike team relocated operationally to El Salvador to support the country's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, an episode the company itself describes as the "first major milestone in becoming a global bitcoin money app for the world" [Strike Blog].
In September 2022, Strike announced an $80 million funding round led by Ten31, framed as fuel to expand merchant and consumer payment rails globally [BusinessWire, Sep 27, 2022][CoinDesk, Sep 2022]. In May 2023, Fortune reported that Strike had extended Bitcoin payment availability to 65 countries. In April 2024, the company launched its consumer app in Europe [BusinessWire, April 2024]. Across 2023 and 2024, Strike also rolled out Bill Pay, transitioned US pricing from spreads to transparent tiered fees, and shipped a Cost Basis tool to help US customers track unrealized gains and dispositions for tax purposes [Strike Blog].
Strike has stated that, after roughly two years of licensing work, it now serves customers directly on its own infrastructure and banking connectivity rather than relying on a third-party banking-as-a-service provider [Strike Blog].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by BusinessWire, PitchBook, and Strike's own published infrastructure update.
Product and Technology
Strike's core consumer surface is a mobile app that lets users buy, sell, hold, send, and receive bitcoin, with the Lightning Network used as the default settlement layer for low-value, low-fee transactions [Strike.me]. Bill Pay lets US customers pay billers directly from a Strike balance using either bitcoin or cash, with Strike handling the conversion and ACH leg [Strike Blog]. Cost Basis, currently rolling out to US customers, tracks bitcoin lots, transfers out, and dispositions with realized and unrealized gain and loss reporting [Strike Blog].
On pricing, Strike has retired its spread on US buy and sell flows in favor of a tiered fee schedule that lowers the marginal fee as a customer transacts more [Strike Blog]. Geographically, the company has expanded its buy-bitcoin functionality globally in stages, beginning with El Salvador and extending into 65 countries by mid-2023 [Fortune, May 2023], with a dedicated European product launch in April 2024 [BusinessWire, April 2024].
On the technology side, the differentiating choices are the Lightning-native architecture and Strike's decision to own its banking and licensing stack directly [Strike Blog]. The product is not custodial in the sense of holding altcoin balances: Strike is deliberately Bitcoin-only.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Strike product blog posts and BusinessWire launch coverage.
Market Research and Opportunity
Strike sits at the seam between global crypto exchange volume and global remittance flows. The company has reported processing approximately $6 billion in transaction volume with a roughly 600% growth figure cited in third-party coverage [Neobanque].
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Cumulative transaction volume | ~$6B |
| Reported growth | ~600% |
| Countries with buy-bitcoin availability | 65 |
| Headcount | 51-200 |
Demand drivers include consumer adoption of Bitcoin in higher-inflation economies, regulated US institutional acceptance via spot Bitcoin ETFs, and the maturation of Lightning as a settlement rail. Strike's European launch in April 2024 [BusinessWire, April 2024] places it inside the EU's MiCA regulatory perimeter.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Country count and EU launch are well sourced; volume and growth figures are company-reported via secondary press.
Competitive Landscape
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strike | Bitcoin-only consumer app on Lightning, US and EU coverage | Series B, ~$80M disclosed | Owned banking infrastructure plus Lightning-native send/receive |
| Cash App (Block) | Consumer financial app with bitcoin buy/sell and Lightning send | Public (NYSE: SQ) | Massive existing US user base and distribution |
| River | US Bitcoin-only brokerage and custody | Private, Series B-backed | Yield product and institutional-grade custody focus |
| Swan Bitcoin | US Bitcoin-only DCA and custody | Private | Recurring-buy and long-horizon HODLer positioning |
Strike's positioning is narrower and deeper than its main competitors. Where Strike has a defensible edge today is the combination of a Lightning-first product surface, the El Salvador-rooted brand association, and the move to owned banking and licensing infrastructure [Strike Blog].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor identities confirmed in community sources and CBInsights; relative positioning is analyst interpretation.
Opportunity
Strike's goal is to become the default consumer interface for Bitcoin-denominated money movement. The company already operates in 65 countries [Fortune, May 2023], has launched a dedicated EU app [BusinessWire, April 2024], and has migrated to owned banking infrastructure [Strike Blog].
| Scenario | What happens |
|---|---|
| Become the EU's default Bitcoin consumer app | Strike captures the post-MiCA window before local incumbents mature their Bitcoin offerings |
| Win the cross-border remittance corridor | Strike's Lightning rails undercut traditional remittance fees on US-to-LatAm and EU-to-LatAm corridors |
| Become the merchant Lightning standard | Strike's owned infrastructure is opened to merchant acquirers and platforms |
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenarios anchored in confirmed launches and footprint; valuation framing is explicitly scenario-based.
Sources
- [Strike.me] Strike | Buy, sell and send bitcoin | https://strike.me/
- [Strike.me] What is Strike? | https://strike.me/en/learn/what-is-strike/
- [Strike Blog] Bitcoin Lightning Network leader Strike raises $80 million funding round | https://strike.me/en/blog/bitcoin-lightning-network-leader-strike-raises-80-million-funding-round-to-revolu/
- [Strike Blog] Strike infrastructure update | https://strike.me/en/blog/strike-infrastructure-update-we-now-serve-customers-on-our-own-infrastructure/
- [Strike Blog] Announcing Strike Bill Pay | https://strike.me/en/blog/announcing-strike-bill-pay/
- [Strike Blog] Announcing buy bitcoin globally | https://strike.me/en/blog/announcing-buy-bitcoin-globally/
- [Strike Blog] From Spreads To Fees: Simple, transparent, and cheap pricing | https://strike.me/blog/from-spreads-to-fees-simple-transparent-and-cheap-pricing-for-bitcoiners/
- [Strike Blog] Announcing Cost Basis | https://strike.me/en/blog/announcing-cost-basis/
- [Strike Blog] Strike: 2023 Recap and 2024 Lookahead | https://strike.me/blog/strike-2023-recap-2024-lookahead/
- [BusinessWire, April 2024] Strike Launches Bitcoin App in Europe | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240424407807/en/Strike-Launches-Bitcoin-App-in-Europe
- [BusinessWire, Sep 27, 2022] Strike $80 million funding round announcement | https://www.businesswire.com/
- [CoinDesk, Sep 2022] Strike Raises $80M Series B Led by Ten31 | https://www.coindesk.com/
- [Dealroom] Strike company information, funding and investors | https://app.dealroom.co/companies/strike_1_3
- [PitchBook] Zap Solutions 2026 Company Profile | https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/437169-79
- [Wellfound] Strike.me Careers | https://wellfound.com/company/strike-me-1
- [LinkedIn] Strike company page | https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinstrike
- [Crunchbase] Strike updates and signals | https://crunchbase.com/organization/strike-llc-2/signals_and_news
- [Bitstamp Learn Center] Who is Jack Mallers? | https://www.bitstamp.net/learn/people-profiles/jack-mallers/
- [Bitcoin Magazine] Strike tag archive | https://bitcoinmagazine.com/tags/strike
Articles about Strike
- Strike Is Wiring Bitcoin Bill Pay Into 65 Countries — Jack Mallers' Chicago fintech raised $80M from Ten31 and now runs its own banking rails. Cash App is the wall it has to climb.