which allows users to transfer between USD and other currencies over Strike using Bitcoin as an intermediary, although it is limited to twelve countries in Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

Currently, dollar balances in Strike are held in Tether, a dollar-pegged stablecoin that has drawn criticism for its shadowy accounting. Mallers said that the company decided to go with Tether, as opposed to other options like Circle and Coinbase’s USD Coin, because of demand from users in the Global South.

“They don’t trust Circle,” he said. “If I’m being totally honest, Circle is built for American institutions.”

As advocates make the case that the Lightning network can actually transform Bitcoin into a payments service, Strike’s expansion represents the first attempt to build an app that allows people across the world to transact with each other.

Mike Brock is the CEO of TBD, a Bitcoin-focused division of Jack Dorsey’s financial technology company Block. Even as Block plots a global expansion for its payment platform Cash App, Brock was supportive of Strike’s effort.

“If your mission is to advance any decentralized ecosystem, then you better hope that there’s actually a pretty competitive marketplace of different companies vying for solutions within that system,” he told Fortune.

Two years after Mallers introduced Bukele at Bitcoin Miami, he reflected on the changing circumstances, wearing a hat emblazoned with the El Salvador flag.

“Two years ago, people would have made fun of me [for our] headquarters in El Salvador to launch product for three billion people, but now Coinbase is fighting with Gary Gensler,” he said. “Who’s

laughing now?