Bitcoin-backed loans are now available for Strike’s American customers, the payment app’s CEO announced Tuesday. Strike boss Jack Mallers posted a video on X explaining the new service. Customers from a total of 26 U.S. states are eligible to secure loans starting from between $75,000 to $100,000, depending on the state, the firm’s website says. Mallers said that the service will soon be available in other regions, including Europe. “You shouldn’t have to sell the best-performing asset in human history to access cash,” said Mallers. “Now you don’t have to.”
The idea is that Strike customers will be able to receive loans with at least 12% APR, using Bitcoin as collateral. Individuals and companies seeking larger loans of over $2 million will also be eligible when assessed, Mallers said. Strike is a digital payments company that allows users to send, receive, and trade the biggest cryptocurrency. Mallers is also the CEO of Twenty One, a new Bitcoin treasury company that will be formed via SPAC merger with backing from Tether, Bitfinex, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank.
Strike was El Salvador’s partner for its Bitcoin project, helping install the infrastructure for Salvadorans to spend their cryptocurrency. El Salvador in 2021 became the first country to make accepting Bitcoin legal tender. It has since scrapped that law following after the International Monetary Fund asked it to roll back the policy under a $1.4 billion loan agreement. However, the country’s president Nayib Bukele is continuing to buy up the asset.
