Strike and Bitnob expand African remittance access

Strike has reached over 1 million downloads for its Bitcoin services. The company recently partnered with Bitnob to facilitate "Send Globally" payments into Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. This feature allows users in the United States to send money to African bank accounts, mobile money, or Bitnob wallets in local currencies like the naira, cedi, or shilling. Payments arrive within minutes. This expansion follows Strike’s partnership with Checkout.com, which permits Bitcoin purchases in more than 65 countries using debit cards. Checkout.com acts as a card network gateway for Visa and Mastercard, allowing users outside the United States to originate payments between currencies via the "Send Globally" feature. Strike raised $80 million in a funding round led by Ten31 in September 2022. Jack Mallers, the Strike CEO, announced the Bitnob partnership during the Africa Bitcoin Conference in Ghana. He compared the instant peer-to-peer payment service to PayPal’s Venmo app.

Remittance costs and the African market

The global remittance market expects to reach $879.24 billion in 2026. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region for sending money. In the first quarter of 2021, costs averaged 8%. Nigeria, which contains an estimated 800,000 migrants in the U.K. and the U.S., received $17.6 billion in remittances in 2021. You already know that traditional money transmitters struggle to operate in these regions due to high fees and service halts. While traditional services like Western Union charge fees and earn from exchange rates, Strike users send and receive cross-border payments with no added transfer fees, though the Lightning Network itself requires a fee for sending money. I find the potential for debt in these fast transactions concerning. If Bitnob lacks instant Bitcoin off-takers, it will rely on liquidity providers for cash reserves, which functions as a form of credit. In Nigeria, the money lost to fees in 2020 was approximately $1.5 billion, a figure that equals the gross domestic product of Samoa.

Bitnob infrastructure and regulation

Bitnob operates as a Nigeria-based company providing Bitcoin and stablecoin infrastructure for businesses and individuals. It has operated for five years and began as a dollar cost averaging app. The company provides services including cross-border payments, on-ramp and off-ramp, and liquidity management across more than 15 African countries. Damilola Robert, who leads growth and marketing at Bitnob, notes that African cryptocurrency adoption rates rank among the highest globally. However, commercial volume remains low because regulations are not clear. Kenya leads in financial innovation with a virtual asset bill, while South Africa provides a clear regulatory framework. Bitnob supports mobile money integrations like M-Pesa and MTN. The company allows users to buy Bitcoin with Nigerian Naira, Ghanaian Cedi, and Kenyan Shilling. Bitnob held a conference in Nairobi on February 13, 2026, alongside Tether to discuss stablecoin infrastructure. Mosa Issachar, the Head of Business Enterprise at Bitnob, stated at the event that the question is no longer whether stablecoin rails can become core payment infrastructure.

Comparison of payment rails

The Lightning Network allows for sub-second settlement. This contrasts with WorldRemit, where bank transfers may take up to one hour to show in a recipient’s account. Traditional bank wires involve SWIFT messaging and correspondent banking, often resulting in fees of 3% to 7% and delays of 1 to 5 days. The Lightning Network works by moving transactions off-chain into payment channels where two parties lock Bitcoin into a multi-signature wallet. How will the volatility of Bitcoin affect those relying on these rails for daily survival?