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Crypto and digital asset companies · United States

Strike

strike.me ↗

Strike is a Bitcoin Lightning payments app for cheap global money transfer and merchant payments.

Losing its protection
Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026
The structural protection is eroding.
On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from 2026-2027 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Cash App international Lightning expansion announcement, or next 30%+ Bitcoin price drawdown testing Strike's new lending book
The call

Strike has real licenses and reach but an unaudited growth story, an untested loan book, and a founder just back from a nine-month distraction.

Strike is a payments company that lets people send Bitcoin across borders quickly and cheaply. It has real advantages: government licenses, relationships with major stores, and a special partnership with Tether that gives it credibility. But Cash App, which is much bigger and owned by Block, just started offering Bitcoin payments too, which cuts into Strike's main reason to exist. Strike also just started lending Bitcoin to customers using borrowed money from Tether, which is brand new and untested. The biggest threat is simple: if Cash App brings its Bitcoin payments to other countries the way it works in the US, Strike loses its main edge.

Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI is not the pressure here, this fight is about payment rails and who ships Lightning fastest, not chatbots or agents. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Cash App (Block). Cash App shipped Lightning payments in 2025-26 inside the US, and an international rollout would gut Strike's main edge. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. State money transmitter licenses, merchant integrations, and international reach Cash App has not built yet.
What would change this call
Cash App/Block ships Lightning payments internationally at scale. Would show Strike's distribution moat eroding to a larger, better-capitalized rival.
Strike's Bitcoin-backed lending book performance during next 30%+ BTC price drawdown. Would show whether Strike's new lending product is durable or a liability.
Tether renegotiates or withdraws the $2.1B lending facility with Strike. Would show Strike's balance-sheet backing is less secure than assumed.
Key numbers
  • $6B payment volume claimed for 2024 (2024)
  • 600% YoY growth claimed for 2024 (2024)
  • $2.1B Tether lending facility launched July 7, 2026 (2026-07)
Named risks
  • Untested lending book and $2.1B Tether facility unproven through a Bitcoin price crash. Severity: high
  • Cash App expanding Lightning payments internationally would erase Strike's core differentiator. Severity: high
  • Dependence on single Tether credit facility that could be renegotiated or pulled. Severity: medium
  • Leadership distraction risk after nine-month merger saga and Mallers' dual-CEO role through July 2026. Severity: medium
  • Structural shift toward stablecoins over volatile Bitcoin for remittance use cases. Severity: medium
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
Cash App (Block)losing toShipped Lightning payments and Bitcoin tap-to-pay with 5% rewards, 2025-2026, larger user base
LavacontestingRaised $200M for competing Bitcoin-backed loan product, 2026
Coinbasegaining onCoinbase shut down its Commerce merchant product in March 2026
StripecontestingPushing agentic commerce and stablecoin infrastructure via Bridge acquisition, 2025-2026
Lightspark (Grid)contestingEnterprise Lightning infrastructure with Visa merchant access, 2026
Questions people ask
Is Strike profitable in 2026?
Strike has not disclosed audited profitability, but the company claimed an 85% gross profit margin and 600% year-over-year growth for 2024, plus zero customer acquisition cost, per CEO Jack Mallers (April 2025). No independently verified 2025-2026 financials are public.
Did Strike merge with Twenty One Capital?
No. Tether proposed a three-way merger of Strike, Twenty One Capital, and Elektron Energy in April 2026, but the deal was scrapped on July 20-21, 2026, with Jack Mallers stepping down as Twenty One's CEO and Strike remaining independent.
Who is Strike's biggest competitor?
Cash App (Block) is Strike's most direct threat, having shipped Lightning Network payments and Bitcoin tap-to-pay with 5% Bitcoin Back rewards in 2025-2026, matching Strike's core product with far larger existing distribution.
Could AI replace what Strike does?
Not directly. Strike is a payments and lending rails business, not knowledge work, so AI exposure is indirect: agentic commerce tools from rivals like Stripe could commoditize the merchant API layer Strike competes in, but core Lightning settlement and licensed lending are not AI-replaceable tasks.
How much funding has Strike raised?
Strike (Zap Solutions, Inc.) has disclosed roughly $80 to $83.5 million in total funding, including an initial $3M raise in 2020 and an $80M round led by Ten31 in August/September 2022, as of April 2026 data.
What is Strike's Tether credit facility for?
On April 29, 2026, Strike announced a $2.1 billion credit facility with Tether to fund Bitcoin-backed lending, lowering loan APRs to 7.49%-10.5% and enabling a 'volatility-proof' loan product formally launched July 7, 2026.
Timeline
  • 2026-07-21Mallers steps down as Twenty One Capital CEO; Strike exits Tether's three-way merger
  • 2026-07-07Strike formally launches volatility-proof Bitcoin-backed loans
  • 2026-04-29Strike announces $2.1B Tether credit facility, lowers loan APRs at Bitcoin 2026
  • 2026-04Tether proposes merging Strike, Twenty One Capital, and Elektron Energy
  • 2026-03Strike secures NY BitLicense/money transmitter license
  • 2025-07Strike adds virtual USD accounts with routing numbers in 60+ countries
  • 2025-04Jack Mallers becomes CEO of both Strike and Twenty One Capital
  • 2023-09Strike raises $80M round led by Ten31
  • 2023-05Strike expands to 65+ countries, reaching nearly 3 billion people
  • 2020-01Strike launches publicly as rebrand of Mallers' app Zap
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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