Bitcoin and the Lightning Network are moving payments globally (w/ Jack Mallers)

Welcome to Chain Reaction. 

A show that unpacks and dives deep into the latest trends, drama and news with some of the biggest names in crypto breaking things down block by block for the crypto curious. 

For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Jack Mallers, the founder and CEO of Strike, a bitcoin-based payment network and financial app that is trying to grow cross-border payments and remittance markets. Last year, Mallers’ company raised $80 million in a Series B round to grow into that space and also has partnered with major companies like Visa, Clover and Fiserv. 

Mallers is also the CEO of Zap, a bitcoin investment and payments company that transacts on the Lightning Network, which is a second layer on Bitcion’s blockchain that allows for off-chain transactions between parties.

We discussed Mallers backstory, how he got into the Bitcoin scene in his late teenage years, whether the lightning network could be better than the payment networks that exist today and how big players could get into the space. This episode was heavily focused on Bitcoin, so buckle up.

We also dove into: 

• Lightning Network’s global potential  
• El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin 
• Creating new infrastructure to make Bitcoin more accessible
• Future of Strike and the Bitcoin ecosystem 

Chain Reaction comes out every other Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PT, so be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action. 

TechCrunch is coming to Boston for our Early Stage event. You can use code CHAIN for 40% off founder and investor passes, we'll see you there! 

Chain Reaction comes out every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. ET, so be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the action.