Send Globally, a remittance service on Bitcoin Layer 2 scaling solutions provider Strike Lighting Network, will be available in the Philippines starting January 31.
The country has a remittance market of $35 billion, which is one of the largest in the world.
Strike has partnered with Bitcoin payment company Pouch.ph in the Philippines to offer its lighting network. Any money sent through the service can be received in Philippine pesos, allowing it to go into the recipient’s bank or mobile money account with relative ease.
Founded by Jack Mallers in 2019, Strike is an API used by merchants to accept payments from customers around the world. The Philippines is only the fourth country to accept the system, which is currently available in the US (excluding Hawaii, New York, and South Dakota), El Salvador, and Argentina.
Powered by the Lightning Network of the Bitcoin blockchain, Strike rose to prominence on the heels of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s commitment at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, which allowed his country to begin accepting Bitcoin payments over the network. Strike, also hoping to help with remittances.
“Strike leverages Bitcoin’s open payment network to provide customers with the world’s first peer-to-peer payment software and a cutting-edge neo-banking experience that is native to Bitcoin.”
In 2021, Filipinos working in the United States sent around 12.7 billion US dollars in cash remittances to the Philippines. Cash remittances sent to the Philippines from the US have gradually increased over the years.
Studies have shown that the remittance industry around the world is plagued with high fees and slow processing times. In an interview with CoinDeskMallers said he hopes to launch it soon in countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana as well.
In Nigeria, a significant BTC premium consolidated this week amid demonetization efforts at the country’s central bank that led many to flee to cryptocurrencies. with local peer-to-peer merchants selling BTC for prices as high as $62,499 on LocalBitcoins163.77% above the current BTC price of $23,694.
Mallers also said he was baffled by tax concerns in the United States. “There are all kinds of tax consequences involved: if I wanted to send money from here to the Philippines, I have to tell the IRS. That’s ridiculous,” Maller said. CoinDesk. “We use Lightning properties under the hood. So our users don’t even know we’re using it. They are only sending dollars and receiving pesos.”
