• Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is now live with Clover, allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin payments.
• Strike is officially an integrated partner of Fiserv, Clover’s parent company, and has launched a public pilot with the point-of-sale terminals.
• Initially, this is a 90-day pilot phase, measuring and tracking settlement speed and cost compared to other networks.
Yesterday marked a major milestone in the adoption of Bitcoin into the mainstream, as the Bitcoin Lightning Network went live with Clover. This move will now enable merchants to accept Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network, allowing customers to make cheaper and faster transactions.
Strike, a company headed by CEO Jack Mallers, is now an integrated partner of payments giant Fiserv, Clover’s parent company. Through this partnership, Strike has launched a pilot integration with Clover, which will allow merchants to accept Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network. Mallers pointed out that this integration does not just apply to his own company Strike but to any service that can make a Lightning payment.
The pilot phase will be a 90-day period, during which partners will be measuring and tracking the settlement speed and cost compared to other networks. After the pilot phase is concluded, the Bitcoin Lightning integration will be rolled out to the Clover App Store, integrated directly into Clover. This will mean that not all Clover merchants will be automatically enabled, as merchants will have to choose to enable payments via Lightning.
Overall, this integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network with Clover is a major step forward in the adoption of Bitcoin into the mainstream, not only as a store of value but also as a means of payment. This integration will enable merchants to accept Bitcoin payments faster and cheaper than before, while customers will be able to make payments in a secure, decentralized way. As the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Clover progresses, we can expect to see more merchants adopting this technology in the near future.