"We see El Salvador improving and want to invest more": Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike

The CEO of one of the most recognized Bitcoin companies in the world shared his perspectives on the country in the framework of the inauguration of President Nayib Bukele.

In an exclusive interview with “Diario El Salvador”, Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, one of the most recognized Bitcoin companies in the world, offers a wallet in which you can easily acquire, store, and pay with the digital currency, highlighted his plans in El Salvador, after having established its global headquarters in the country. Mallers visited the country to give a keynote lecture to students of CUBO+, an educational program of the National Bitcoin Office for Salvadorans, and also to accompany President Nayib Bukele at his inauguration.

What is a Strike?

Strike is a Bitcoin financial services company. We see bitcoin as the new money, a new sector, a new field of finance and people. People need financial services, they need a way to buy, sell, store, use, acquire loans, save, acquire insurance, and products based on this new ecosystem. We try to do that for as many people as possible and try to be the best at it.

Last year you announced that you would be moving your global headquarters to El Salvador, what does that announcement mean and what led you to make that decision?

We have the license as a digital asset provider here, we are one of the few companies that have obtained it, and we now develop a lot of our business based on that entity and license that we have. People can assume why: the reason is that there is a favorable government and jurisdiction that supports what we are trying to achieve as a company and with our products.

It was very natural for us to have an entity and a license here because it is very helpful when the government and regulators are in favor of what we want to achieve as a company, and we want to spend our time-solving people’s problems, not necessarily jumping regulatory frameworks. It’s been great, this country has been amazing for us since we came here three years ago.

Have you established an office in the country and have you hired Salvadorans?

Yes, we have Salvadoran workers and an office here, a particular entity for licensing as well. We have hired Salvadorans since we arrived and it has been excellent. This country has been great and, to be honest, to come back and see all the changes is amazing. We see El Salvador improving and we want to invest more and make sure we can support and bring benefits for all the good that is happening here. Chicago is not changing as much as San Salvador is changing, so that’s great.

You have also said that El Salvador could be the new Singapore and Cathie Wood recently said that President Bukele could grow El Salvador’s GDP 10 times in his new term, do you agree with that?

Saying 10 times in five years might be a little strong, but I’m here for it. I think it’s going to grow a lot, I don’t know how to speculate. I’m happy to give a Bitcoin price prediction, but a GDP prediction is not my area. However, investing in this country, whether it’s land, technology, or whatever, is a good investment.

I’m excited about where the country is going, particularly in Bitcoin, I’m a big fan of what the government and the country have done with Bitcoin, their commitment to Bitcoin, and their conviction with Bitcoin, so I’m sure Cathie is right on target. I hope for her sake and my sake, it’s right, but we’ll see.

Why is Bitcoin so important for the Salvadoran economy?

I think the better and stronger money makes a better society. I think money is an extraction of time and energy, so if you have a technology that allows you to store and exchange time and energy between people, you make a better society. You can talk about local trade, remittances, and savings that accumulate wealth. For example, bitcoin that has your government has gone up a lot, and that is the National Treasury growing and generating wealth and making them more sovereign. All the economic elements are related.

If you have better money, you have a better society; if there is a better society, you have better people; among better people, better education, better families, better cultures. I’m a guy who thinks that when you fix money, you fix society. Better money solves problems.

You once said that your goal was to help the Salvadoran economy, what kind of initiatives do you carry out to meet that goal?

I am a big fan of the free market, in the aspect that all companies should compete with products that people want to pay for. Our experience is to think about what Salvadorans want, because I can have a great idea, but people may not care about my idea. So, we have found that remittances are something that our consumers find useful, and then businesses have been interested.

We would love to allow Salvadorans to buy Bitcoin using their bank account, that’s been an effort we’ve been trying to solve by connecting with local banks, even though we already offer the service with the debit card. That’s what we have discovered with Salvadorans, we know they appreciate that. We are trying to understand where people appreciate our software the most.

What are the benefits of using Lightning Network technology for Salvadorans?

I think we are one of the best in the world with the Bitcoin experience. For example, we allow you to make bitcoin on-chain payments at no cost, we have one of the best Lightning wallets in the world. We allow you to buy bitcoin, and sell Bitcoin, we give you access to stablecoins. I think if you want a high-quality Bitcoin experience to send, buy, receive, and store, our services are very good. Our consumers who have found benefits in us have also found benefits and value in bitcoin. If you want to try Bitcoin, you are probably a Strike consumer.

What are the prospects for a Strike in El Salvador?

We want to grow in all aspects, I would love to hire more people here and grow in revenue and business. I would like to help, either as an advisor to the government or local economies like Bitcoin Beach and Bitcoin Berlin, to grow through Bitcoin. I’m excited about everything. We work for the people, we work for our consumers, and we take that approach every day. We always try to find out what people want from us, what people want from Bitcoin and we work to make the world better.

Source: Diario El Salvador