Strike announces Shopify integration, partnerships with NCR and Blackhawk Network

The digital payments platform Strike has formed a new partnership with Shopify, bringing Bitcoin Lightning Payments to its huge marketplace of buyers and sellers. Not yet fully rolled out across the platform it's currently open for merchants to apply for early access.

With $79.5 billion in sales in 2021, Shopify's enormous platform opening up to accepting Bitcoin payments will only increase the rate of adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments.

Additionally, Strike announced deals that will bring cryptocurrency payments through NCR, which is the world's largest POS service provider, as well as the Blackhawk Network, which issues 500 million gift cards and transactions per year.

To say this is huge is an understatement, the sheer number of businesses this opens up to cryptocurrency exposure is staggering. Using Bitcoin-enabled wallets or the Cash App, customers will be able to shop at grocery stores, coffee shops and retailers using their Satoshis (100 million Satoshis = 1 Bitcoin).

On the Lightning Network, transactions are quickly processed on a Layer 2 network and then submitted in large batches and verified on the Layer 1 Bitcoin Blockchain. Costing fractions of a penny, this is directly competing with and outperforming traditional credit processing infrastructures like Visa and MasterCard, at a significantly lower price for both the retailer and the customer.

Payments options have not changed this much in decades, and with the obvious benefits to everyone (except the current dominating entities making obscene profits in their monopoly) it seems highly likely that this change will create a stronghold for Bitcoin in the common consumer market rather than being just a novel flash in the pan.

The possible hidden dangers that may come with this innovation however are not new. New monopolies will form as trailblazers take the lead in new markets, especially with numbers as large as global payments and shopping can produce. Not everyone can adapt to the same degree at the same pace.

The greatest danger is the possible psychological Trojan Horse that this can become, acclimating the general public to digital payments without any further thought, and then easing them onto a CBDC which can then be used to throttle their freedom and ability to self custody of their resources and purchasing choices.

It's important that everyone still learn and understand what they are doing, and not just trust that their card has some magic numbers that will take care of it all for them. Bitcoin has always been about knowledge and freedom, it's important not to lose sight of what money is and who it serves.

Don't forget to follow us @cryptonezo to stay updated with the latest blockchain and cryptocurrency news.