Strike CEO Jack Mallers took to Twitter to announce that Strike is now an integrated partner of payment giant Fiserv, Clover’s parent company. Subsequently, Strike launched a pilot integration with Clover that allows merchants to accept bitcoin via the Lightning Network.
According to your advertisement, the integration is not limited to Strike. Instead, merchants will be able to accept Lightning payments from any source: “From Cash App to a Tor node. If you can make a Lightning payment, you can use it,” Mallers stated on Twitter.
Mallers clarified that this release is part of a 90-day trial period, which will involve measuring the speed and cost of facilitating transactions using the new integration. On top of that, the amount of business that the Lightning integration brings to merchants will be closely monitored.
After the pilot, Strike aims to enter the Clover app store, and then direct integration into Clover. This would enable Lightning by default for all Clover merchants, putting it right next to card networks like Visa and MasterCard.
“Ultimately these payment giants want to see Lightning in action,” Mallers said on Twitter. “They want to feel it, touch it and see people use it. An open, instant, cheap, inclusive and innovative payment network seems too good to be true. It’s time to prove that Lightning is the world’s top payout rail.”
The trial period is now active and Clover merchants can contact Strike to enable cheaper and faster payments using the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
