Digital payments firm Strike has taken a significant step towards improving its operations by moving all customers’ bitcoin (BTC) and US dollar assets to its in-house infrastructure, as confirmed in a June 8 blog post by its CEO and cofounder, Jack Mallers. This remarkable move is a result of two years of effort and is aimed at reducing counterparty risk while ensuring the company’s products and services maintain their robustness and performance.
The announcement comes on the heels of Prime Trust’s bankruptcy rumors, Strike’s former custodian that has agreed to sell itself to digital asset custody rival BitGo. Swan Bitcoin, another bitcoin financial services firm, has also recently parted ways with Prime Trust. Strike, however, refrained from commenting on its former custodian’s situation, emphasizing that the plan to move custody in-house has been two years in the making.
This new development ensures that Strike’s customer base, spread across more than 65 countries, will now custody bitcoin and fiat directly with Strike. Mallers proudly announces the change, stating that Strike now owns and operates all of its infrastructure for customers, eliminating custodial intermediaries between the company and its users.
According to Mallers, this transition to in-house custody provides both short-term and long-term benefits for users. New features and capabilities have been rolled out following the infrastructure enhancements, which are now live. For instance, Strike users can now send bitcoin directly to other users on a peer-to-peer basis and can also choose to receive funds as cash or bitcoin.
Moreover, bitcoin payments can be made directly on-chain or via the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a second layer payment system designed for cheaper and faster transactions. Additionally, deposit limits have increased, and on-chain payments are now tiered, enabling users to pay higher fees for faster payments and lower fees for slower, less urgent transactions.
Mallers’ ambition for Strike doesn’t stop there, as he envisions a bright future for the company, with goals including global on/off ramps, instant withdrawals, new dollar-cost averaging capabilities, continued improvements in limits, more cross-currency capabilities, and much more. As Strike moves ahead to secure its position in the digital payments landscape, this significant transition to in-house infrastructure showcases its dedication to delivering an optimized user experience and ensuring long-term stability.
Source: Coindesk
