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Strike has partnered with Bitnob to facilitate cross-border payments into Africa.
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The service will be available to users in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, but Strike will expand to other African countries soon.
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The feature does not require people to use Bitcoin themselves
Strike’s Send Globally service is now in Africa
Bitcoin company Strike announced earlier today that it had entered a strategic partnership with Bitnob, a platform that allows users to send or receive money instantly and free from any app with a bitcoin.
During a conference in Ghana, Strike CEO Jack Maller revealed that the Bitcoin payments company has entered Africa thanks to its partnership with Bitnob.
He made this announcement on stage at AfroBitcoin, a Bitcoin conference in Ghana’s capital city of Accra. He announced the partnership while on stage alongside Bernard Parah, the Nigerian CEO of Bitnob, following a short presentation on how the service works.
The feature is dubbed “Send Globally,” and it makes it easier for people to carry out instant, low-cost payments to Africa. The service takes advantage of the Lightning Network, the layer-2 payments network built atop Bitcoin.
Bitnob’s CEO explained that the feature doesn’t require people to use Bitcoin themselves.
Send Globally debuts in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya
According to Strike, the feature is currently available to users in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, three popular English-speaking countries in the continent.
This latest cryptocurrency news would benefit Africans because remittance services such as Wise take a small commission, while Western Union can charge more than 10% for money transfers.
The Bitnob CEO also explained that Dollar payments are instantly converted into naira, cedi or shillings (currencies in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, respectively). The funds are then deposited directly to recipients’ banks, mobile money, or Bitnob accounts.
Remittance is a major source of foreign exchange to Nigeria and contributes more to Nigeria’s GDP than oil. Africa’s leading economy received $17.2 billion in remittances in 2020. However, according to the world bank, 8.9% of the funds (around $1.5 billion) were lost in fees.
By eliminating remittance fees using Bitcoin payment systems, Nigerians will benefit financially. The situation is similar in Ghan and Kenya.
Mallers concluded that the Lightning Network has “just achieved dollars to Naira, Naira to dollars.”