Strike moves global headquarters to El Salvador, expands to 65 countries

Strike, a Chicago-based Bitcoin (BTC) payment provider, expanded its services to 65 countries in parallel with moving its global headquarters to El Salvador. Before the expansion, the mobile app was only operational in the United States, El Salvador, and Argentina.

According to Jack Mallers, the CEO and founder of Zap, Strike’s parent company, the expansion is aimed at countering the “obscured world of crypto exchanges and hidden, unregistered licensing regimes and 1,000 different coins.” Speaking to Fortune, Mallers revealed that the move of its headquarters to El Salvador was in response to growing anti-crypto regulatory sentiment in the US.

On the one hand, regulations prevent Strike from offering its service in New York. On the other hand, El Salvador introduced crypto-inclusive regulations to attract technological innovations to the region.

3/ El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and thus of economic freedom, financial sovereignty, resistance to censorship and unconfiscable wealth.

When we issue the first of the volcano bonds, we will again pave the way for this new monetary revolution.

— The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) January 11, 2023

During the discussion, Mallers talked about El Salvador’s success in establishing Bitcoin as legal tender. He believed that merchant acceptance “was not the determining factor for success”. Instead, he weighed the success of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador in terms of other factors, including increased tourism.

Strike will initially allow users in the new world markets to receive only Bitcoin, but Mallers has revealed plans to launch new features, including a debit card, by the end of the year. For markets outside the US, Strike allows payments in US dollars via Tether (USDT).

“Two years ago people would have laughed at me [for our] headquarters in El Salvador to launch a product for three billion people, but now Coinbase is fighting with Gary Gensler,” he said. “Who is laughing now?” Mallers concluded.

Related: US lawmakers focus on perceived risks of crypto adoption in El Salvador with reintroduced bill

Strike and crypto exchange Bitfinix were among the first crypto companies to secure operating licenses in El Salvador.

We are now the world’s first international digital asset platform to receive approval for a Digital Asset Service Provider license under El Salvador’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law! A milestone for financial freedom in Latin America.@bitfinex

— Bitfinex Securities (@BFXSecurities) April 11, 2023

El Salvador’s Digital Asset Service provider license allows Bitfinex Securities to “facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets” with clearly defined rights and obligations in the jurisdiction.