<h2>What is Strike?</h2>
Strike is your best way to Bitcoin.
It’s your gateway to a borderless money experience for saving, spending, sending, and receiving, made possible through Bitcoin.
<img src="https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1704980440-learn-what-is-strike-state-hero.png" alt="" />
Our unending pursuit of better money ultimately leads to <a href="http://strike.me/learn/what-is-bitcoin">Bitcoin</a> – the global system for peer-to-peer electronic cash. Bitcoin is money that’s free from manipulation and obstruction, providing a savings technology that’s open to everybody, yet controlled by nobody.
Bitcoin also provides payments infrastructure for the world. People and businesses can convert their money into bitcoin, send it globally, and convert it out again whenever they want. With Bitcoin’s <a href="https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-lightning-network/">Lightning Network</a>, money can now flow faster than ever, at low-to-no cost, and without borders. The frictions that obstruct our finances, ranging from arbitrary inflation to unfair fees and limits, are remedied through Bitcoin and Lightning.
Bitcoin is a new money system based on rules, not the whims of rulers.
By building on Bitcoin and Lightning, Strike enables you to transact with cash and bitcoin in ways that are simply impossible in legacy systems. Your money can move across borders, apps, and currencies, in unprecedented amounts and speeds. And in bitcoin, you can now save in the hardest money on earth.
Strike is for better payments and better money — unobstructed, interoperable, global, secure, and fair.
Rules, not rulers.
Pawn to E4.

Strike is for better payments and better money

What is Strike?

## Lightning as a payments network
The Lightning Network was proposed in 2015 as a payments network for transacting bitcoin *outside* the Bitcoin blockchain.

Essentially, the Lightning Network is a way to transact bitcoin faster, cheaper, and more privately than on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702580934-what-is-the-lightning-network-01.png)

Unlike legacy networks for inter-bank cash transfers or credit and debit card payments, the Lightning Network offers instant settlement, no chargebacks, and uses bitcoin as the underlying asset. 

It helps solve a key obstacle for Bitcoin, mainly the ability to scale to lots of users making lots of payments. Whereas the Bitcoin blockchain is designed first and foremost for security and decentralization, the Lightning Network is designed for speed, cost, and volume of payments. 

Lightning is a new kind of payments network, one that’s borderless, open, low-cost, and instant.

## How does the Lightning Network work?
The Lightning Network is kinda like the Bitcoin Network, in that it’s made up of computers (nodes) all running the Lightning Network software. Unlike Bitcoin, Lightning transactions aren’t publicly broadcast on the blockchain; instead they’re made privately and directly between nodes. 

Also like Bitcoin, the Lightning software is a standardized set of rules (aka protocol) that’s open and free to use for anyone or any company who wants to join.

So how does it work?

It all starts with bitcoin. Every bitcoin on Lightning begins with a transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain. That on-chain transaction is shared between two parties and serves as the reference point to start transacting *outside* the blockchain. 

With that on-chain bitcoin secured, the two nodes can then open a payment “channel” – a peer-to-peer connection through which bitcoin can be transacted. It’s like a direct link between two computers that update their own mini, private bitcoin ledger, with the start of their ledger being that first on-chain transaction. 

In their channel, they can transact as fast and often as they want by simply updating their private record, and when they’re done, they can close the channel by settling the original on-chain transaction. 

It’s like opening a tab at a bar, so that you don’t have to pay the bartender each time you buy a drink. Once you open the tab, you can order lots of drinks and just have the tab updated each time. At the end of the night, you make one single payment to settle up. 

It’s the same with Lightning. One on-chain transaction to start, countless off-chain transactions, and one on-chain transaction to close. 

What’s more, each node can open as many channels with as many nodes as they want, forming a global web of connections. Through this web, nodes can “route” payments to other nodes, even if they’re not directly connected. This means person A can send to person C, via their shared connections with person B. These *indirect* payments open a global network of payment possibilities, since each node can be indirectly connected with every other node in the network.

Lightning is a peer-to-peer payments network that helps scale the Bitcoin blockchain, without making tons of on-chain transactions.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702580946-what-is-the-lightning-network-03.png)

## Lightning and global money transfers
Lightning helps deliver instant, low-cost, and interoperable payments for the world.

Payments routed via Lightning move at lightspeed. When they arrive, they’re final. Instant plus final is what legacy networks can’t do. Legacy cash payments sit in “pending” status for days, with the risk of failing or reversing, adding to merchants’ costs and headaches. 

On top of that is Lightning’s extreme low cost. Lightning payments are just information sent between computers, which costs little to nothing. When indirect payments are routed, a routing fee is paid to any in-between nodes, and those fees are typically a couple satoshis (a fraction of a penny). Payments themselves can be that small, unlocking new possibilities for micro-payments. Compare that to card payment processors, who take a couple percent per transaction in fees and can’t practically process penny transactions (let alone sub-penny amounts).

What’s more is Lightning’s interoperability. Like Bitcoin, Lightning is an open protocol, which means any person, any company, or any app can join and start making Lightning payments themselves. It’s the opposite of how bank or card networks operate, which are closed and don’t allow people to hold electronic money themselves.

With Lightning, you can make payments across apps, for less than a penny, and the payment will be instantly spendable. 

To really get it, you have to see a Lightning app in action. 

People send payments from Miami to Mumbai, via Manila, Mexico City, and Munich. Each person uses a different app, each transaction is sent for fractions of a penny, each payment is finalized and immediately spendable. No 1-5 business days, no bank holidays, no manual approvals, no opaque fees. Secure global payments that just work. 

And since bitcoin is traded 24/7/365 across all major currencies, you can use cash to buy bitcoin, send via Lightning, and sell back into cash. That’s exactly what the Strike app and Strike API do. 

The Lightning Network is a new standard for payments. 
It’s fair — nobody has privileged access.
It’s global — across the street as across the world.
It’s interoperable — across apps, across companies, across borders.
It’s secure — it all begins and ends with Bitcoin, verifiably secure and scarce.

The global bitcoin payments network that’s instant, private, and low-to-no cost 

What is the Lightning Network?

## The Strike widget
The Strike widget is a web-based tool that enables your users to buy bitcoin within your app.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1707356697-learn-what-is-the-strike-black-widget-state-hero.png)

It’s a plug-and-play solution to add a “Buy bitcoin” button to your app and have users guided through a step-by-step bitcoin purchase, including:
* Signup 
* Know Your Customer (KYC) verification
* Cash payment method linking
* Bitcoin purchasing
* Bitcoin delivery via on-chain or Lightning transaction

It’s a simple and secure on-ramp for people to convert their cash to bitcoin.

Once a purchase is made, the bitcoin can be delivered to the user’s external wallet, a designated custodial wallet, or held on the user’s behalf in your Strike account. In conjunction with the [Strike API](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-strike-api) and [Strike OAuth Connect](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-strike-black), you can then create transaction experiences, capable of making borderless payments on the user’s behalf through the Bitcoin and Lightning Networks. 

Since bitcoin is a global asset, traded 24/7/365 across all major currencies, money can flow in, out, and through the [Bitcoin](https://strike.me/learn/how-does-bitcoin-work) and [Lightning](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-lightning-network) networks, in micro or macro amounts, for low-to-no cost. With the Strike API, your app can use the Bitcoin network as global payments infrastructure – optimized for speed, scalability, and programmability.

Bitcoin journeys begin by clicking the “Buy” button.

## How does the Strike widget work?
Adding the Strike widget begins with setting up your Strike account. You can contact our business team to get onboarded and your account verified.

You can then start building by following the Strike widget [integration guide](https://docs.strike.me/strike-widget), which details the necessary steps to add a “Buy bitcoin” button to your client app, redirect to the web-based Strike widget, and provide the necessary parameters to interact with the widget.

Once added, a user can tap the “Buy bitcoin” button in your app, which will open the Strike widget and guide them through the step-by-step process:
1. Enter an amount to purchase
2. Proceed to create an account by verifying an email address
3. Verify KYC details, such as country of residence, phone number, and identity information
4. Link a payment method, which includes sending a verification code to the payment method’s bank account
5. Specify the purchase details, such as the desired delivery time and fees for on-chain deliveries
6. Review the purchase details and tap confirm

Once confirmed, the payment method is charged, the purchase is made, and the bitcoin is delivered to the specified destination. The entire process can be done in seconds to minutes.

Through the widget, a user is creating a Strike account, meaning they can log in again and reuse their linked payment method to make their next purchases faster and easier. Additionally, existing Strike users can log in with their Strike account email to bypass payment method linking and KYC steps by using their established credentials and payment methods to buy bitcoin.

Within the Strike widget, users can also review their limits, payment methods, account information, and transaction history, including pending transactions for on-chain sends that have yet to be broadcast.

The Strike widget is your simple and secure on-ramp to bitcoin.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702580888-is-bitcoin-money-02.png)

## Integrations with the Strike API
Once your users buy bitcoin, what next?

With the Strike widget, delivery is what you need it to be. As part of the widget flow, your app specifies the delivery destination for the bitcoin (either on-chain or via Lightning), such as the user’s external wallet or a designated custodial wallet. Depending on your use case, you can also hold bitcoin in the user’s designated Strike account, which grants the ability to use the Strike API to build sophisticated transaction experiences within your app.

With the [Strike API](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-strike-api), you can make borderless, low-cost transactions through the Bitcoin and Lightning Networks, using your own account or on your users’ behalf. It supports transactions for sending, receiving, exchanging, and directing payments at the speeds and scales of Bitcoin and Lightning, including sub-penny amounts, instant settlement, and borderless transactions.

The Strike API lets you extend these transaction experiences to your users by offering: 
* **Network flexibility:** Transactions can be made using the Bitcoin or Lightning networks, according to the use case and payment size
* **Asset optionality:** Money can be sent and received either as cash or bitcoin, with the Strike API handling any asset conversions behind the scenes
* **Global interoperability:** Transactions are compatible with all all global Bitcoin and Lightning-enabled wallets, providing access to a global network of potential users 
* **Payment scalability:** Large payments can be sent as on-chain transactions, settled within 10-60 minutes, whereas small to medium payments can be sent and settled instantly via Lightning, including micro-transactions that are less than a penny

The Strike API lets you build transactions into your app with amounts, speeds, and costs that are impossible within legacy financial systems. When combined with the Strike widget, you can onboard users into bitcoin, let them hold a balance, and make borderless, low-cost, micro/macro transactions – all within your app. Read more about the [Strike API](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-strike-api), or check out the [docs](https://docs.strike.me).

The Strike widget and the Strike API are your tools to provide superior money experiences to your users. Contact partners@strike.me to get started. 

Add a “Buy bitcoin” button to your app

What is the Strike widget?

The Bitcoin supply schedule is the preprogrammed pace at which bitcoin are issued into circulation.

This schedule began at zero when Bitcoin was launched on January 3rd, 2009 and is steadily progressing towards the terminal supply limit of 21 million bitcoin in the year 2140.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1710202382-learn-what-is-the-bitcoin-supply-schedule-state-hero.png)

When Bitcoin was launched as peer-to-peer electronic cash, there needed to be a way to distribute the bitcoin into circulation. The solution to this challenge was to pair bitcoin distribution with the processing of transactions, in a system commonly called “Bitcoin mining”. 

Mining is the process whereby computers compete in successive lottery-style competitions to win the rights to add the next block of transactions to Bitcoin’s blockchain and get paid a bitcoin reward for doing so. That bitcoin reward comes in two parts:
* **Block subsidy:** The amount of newly issued bitcoin entering circulation 
* **Transaction fees:** The bitcoin fees paid by individuals to get their transaction added to the blockchain more quickly

The block subsidy is how bitcoin enters circulation.

The subsidy amount and all other [supply-related rules](https://strike.me/learn/how-does-bitcoin-work) are encoded in the Bitcoin software. The basics of these rules are as follows:
* **Start at 50:** At launch, the block subsidy was set at 50 bitcoin per block.
* **Halvings:** Every 210,000 blocks, the block subsidy is automatically reduced by half – an event known as a “[halving](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-bitcoin-halving).”
* **10-minute blocks:** The Bitcoin software targets a 10-minute block time.
* **Divisibility limit:** Each bitcoin can be subdivided into 100 million sub-units called “[satoshis](https://strike.me/learn/what-are-satoshis/)” (₿0.00000001), which are indivisible. 

The result of the supply rules is a type of schedule, which sets the quantity and timing of bitcoin’s supply issuance – the “supply schedule.”

## How is Bitcoin’s supply schedule calculated?
Bitcoin’s supply schedule isn’t based on time, but rather on blocks. 

The Bitcoin software targets block times of 10 minutes. When more computational power is deployed by miners, blocks can occur faster than 10 minutes, since more computation means increased likelihood of winning the “lottery-style” competition. To compensate, the Bitcoin software automatically re-adjusts the difficulty of mining every 2,016 blocks (called the “difficulty adjustment”) to maintain an average block time of about 10 minutes.

This means the timing of future blocks are projections, which depends on how much or little computational power is deployed by miners over time. Therefore, Bitcoin’s supply schedule doesn’t exist as a calendar with dates set in stone, but as a set of rules that take into account certain variables.

The calculation of the supply can be expressed in terms of a mathematical equation:

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1713370060-bitcoin-supply-equation-t2.png)

Let’s break this equation down into simple terms:
* ∑: This is the symbol for a summation equation
* i: The current halving cycle of Bitcoin
* 0: The initial cycle is set at zero
* 32: The number of cycle repetitions
* 210,000: The number of blocks during each cycle, or "epoch"
* 50: The maximum allowable block subsidy for the first epoch
* /2: The halving, whereby the block subsidy is reduced by half

In this formula every 210,000 blocks the cycle (“i”) increments by one, meaning the 1st epoch's maximum block subsidy is set at 50/20 (50), the 2nd is 50/21 (25), the 3rd is 50/22 (12.5), and so on. There are 33 total halving cycles, since the initial cycle starts at 0 and repeats 32 times.

## When do Bitcoin halvings occur? 
The exact dates of future halvings are projections, since they are based on blocks rather than time and blocks can occur slightly faster or slower than 10 minutes, depending on mining activity. Bitcoin’s supply schedule can be shown in table format. 

| **Year** | **Epoch** | **Halving** | **Block** | **Block subsidy** | **Supply at epoch’s end** |
|------|-------|---------|---------|----------------|--------------------------------|
| 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ₿50 | ₿10500000 |
| 2012 | 2 | 1 | 210000 | ₿25 | ₿15750000 |
| 2016 | 3 | 2 | 420000 | ₿12.5 | ₿18375000 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3 | 630000 | ₿6.25 | ₿19687500 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4 | 840000 | ₿3.125 | ₿20343750 |
| 2028 | 6 | 5 | 1050000 | ₿1.5625 | ₿20671875 |
| 2032 | 7 | 6 | 1260000 | ₿0.78125 | ₿20835937.5 |
| 2036 | 8 | 7 | 1470000 | ₿0.390625 | ₿20917968.75 |
| 2040 | 9 | 8 | 1680000 | ₿0.1953125 | ₿20958984.375 |
| 2044 | 10 | 9 | 1890000 | ₿0.09765625 | ₿20979492.1875 |
| 2048 | 11 | 10 | 2100000 | ₿0.04882812 | ₿20989746.0927 |
| 2052 | 12 | 11 | 2310000 | ₿0.02441406 | ₿20994873.0453 |
| 2056 | 13 | 12 | 2520000 | ₿0.01220703 | ₿20997436.5216 |
| 2060 | 14 | 13 | 2730000 | ₿0.00610351 | ₿20998718.2587 |
| 2064 | 15 | 14 | 2940000 | ₿0.00305175 | ₿20999359.1262 |
| 2068 | 16 | 15 | 3150000 | ₿0.00152587 | ₿20999679.5589 |
| 2072 | 17 | 16 | 3360000 | ₿0.00076293 | ₿20999839.7742 |
| 2076 | 18 | 17 | 3570000 | ₿0.00038146 | ₿20999919.8808 |
| 2080 | 19 | 18 | 3780000 | ₿0.00019073 | ₿20999959.9341 |
| 2084 | 20 | 19 | 3990000 | ₿0.00009536 | ₿20999979.9597 |
| 2088 | 21 | 20 | 4200000 | ₿0.00004768 | ₿20999989.9725 |
| 2092 | 22 | 21 | 4410000 | ₿0.00002384 | ₿20999994.9789 |
| 2096 | 23 | 22 | 4620000 | ₿0.00001192 | ₿20999997.4821 |
| 2100 | 24 | 23 | 4830000 | ₿0.00000596 | ₿20999998.7337 |
| 2104 | 25 | 24 | 5040000 | ₿0.00000298 | ₿20999999.3595 |
| 2108 | 26 | 25 | 5250000 | ₿0.00000149 | ₿20999999.6724 |
| 2112 | 27 | 26 | 5460000 | ₿0.00000074 | ₿20999999.8278 |
| 2116 | 28 | 27 | 5670000 | ₿0.00000037 | ₿20999999.9055 |
| 2120 | 29 | 28 | 5880000 | ₿0.00000018 | ₿20999999.9433 |
| 2124 | 30 | 29 | 6090000 | ₿0.00000009 | ₿20999999.9622 |
| 2128 | 31 | 30 | 6300000 | ₿0.00000004 | ₿20999999.9706 |
| 2132 | 32 | 31 | 6510000 | ₿0.00000002 | ₿20999999.9748 |
| 2136 | 33 | 32 | 6720000 | ₿0.00000001 | ₿20999999.9769 |
| 2140 | 34 | 33 | 6930000 | ₿0 | ₿20999999.9769 |

Some notes on the supply schedule:
* In the 1st epoch, 50% of all bitcoin were issued when the block subsidy was 50/block. Similarly, in the 2nd epoch, 25% of bitcoin were issued when the block subsidy was 25/block, and so on.
* The final “halving” that occurs in the year 2140 is actually a 100% reduction in the block subsidy, and will be the start of the final epoch, which lasts indefinitely. Bitcoin miners will henceforth be incentivized exclusively through transaction fees.
* Each halving reduces the block subsidy by exactly half up until the 10th halving, when it becomes impossible to do so, since the preceding subsidy is an odd number and satoshis are the indivisible amount of Bitcoin. As a result, the 10th halving reduces the block subsidy by 50.00000512%. In technical terms, this is due to Bitcoin using a bitwise shift operator.
* There are 10 halvings where the subsidy is reduced by slightly more than 50%: the 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 26th, 28th, and 30th.
* Due to certain halvings reducing the subsidy by more than 50%, the [terminal bitcoin supply](https://strike.me/learn/how-many-bitcoin-are-there/) is actually 20,999,999.9769, which most people simply refer to as 21 million.

The pre-programmed pace from zero to 21 million

What is the bitcoin supply schedule?

The Bitcoin halving is the reduction of new bitcoin supply issuance by half, which automatically occurs every 210,000 blocks (roughly 4 years).

Bitcoin halvings are a key feature of Bitcoin’s [supply schedule](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-bitcoin-supply-schedule), which sets the timing and quantity of how bitcoin’s supply is issued into circulation.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1713314369-learn-what-is-the-bitcoin-halving-state-hero.png)

Bitcoin’s supply is limited and follows a preprogrammed schedule. That supply schedule is encoded within the Bitcoin software, which means every computer running the software is actively enforcing the supply limits. With each block of transactions, a set amount of new bitcoin are issued into circulation, known as the “block subsidy”.

The subsidy amount was set at 50 bitcoin per block when Bitcoin was launched, and is set to automatically reduce by half every 210,000 blocks. This reduction is commonly called the “halving” or “halvening,” which is a decrease in the rate of new supply issuance – not a decrease in the supply itself. 

This means that although the circulating supply of bitcoin grows over time, the rate of supply growth diminishes at a predictable pace. According to the supply schedule, after the 33rd halving cycle there will be no more bitcoin to be added and it will reach its terminal supply limit of 21 million bitcoin.

## When does the Bitcoin halving occur?
Bitcoin halvings occur every 210,000 blocks, which means they are not actually based on time, but rather on a set number of blocks.

The Bitcoin software targets block times of 10 minutes by periodically adjusting the difficulty of bitcoin mining. When Bitcoin miners deploy more computational power (aka hashpower), they are able to mine blocks faster, which in turn increases the speed of bitcoin supply issuance. The Bitcoin software automatically compensates for this by adjusting the difficulty of mining (aka the “difficulty adjustment”) every 2,016 blocks, so that block times remain consistent regardless of the total computational power of global mining.

The result is that Bitcoin blocks typically occur on average every 10 minutes, but can occur faster or slower depending on mining activity. This means that the exact dates of future halvings are always projections.

| **Halving cycle**  | **Date**                | **Block**     | **Block subsidy**  | **Supply at halving**    |
|----------------|---------------------|-----------|----------------|----------------------|
| Launch         | January 3rd, 2009   | 0         | ₿50            | ₿0                     |
| 1st halving    | November 28, 2012   | 210,000   | ₿25            | ₿10,500,000          |
| 2nd halving    | July 9, 2016        | 420,000   | ₿12.5          | ₿15,750,000          |
| 3rd halving    | May 11, 2020        | 630,000   | ₿6.25          | ₿18,375,000          |
| 4th halving    | April 19, 2024      | 840,000   | ₿3.125         | ₿19,687,500          |
| 5th halving    | 2028 (projected)    | 1,050,000 | ₿1.5625        | ₿20,343,750          |
| …              | …                   | …         | …              | …                    |
| 33rd halving   | 2140 (projected)    | 6930000   | ₿0.00000001    | ₿20,999,999.9769     |

A more thorough breakdown of Bitcoin’s supply schedule can be viewed [here](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-bitcoin-supply-schedule).

## Can the halving affect the price of bitcoin?
Bitcoin halvings have historically been followed by a rise in Bitcoin’s price over the next 12-18 months, often called a “bull run.” There is no guarantee that this trend will continue, but it can be worthwhile to examine the factors that have led to this trend. 

First off, to examine the trend, it can be helpful to compare bitcoin’s price history in linear vs. logarithmic (log) scale charts:

* **Linear scale:** Linear-scale charts show price changes in absolute terms, with the y-axis in proportionally incremental units. A price move of $1,000 will appear the same across the entire chart. Linear scales are useful for shorter-term price analysis.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1713370067-bitcoin-price-chart-linear-t2.png)

* **Log scale:** Log scale charts show price changes in percentage terms, with the y-axis in exponential scales. A price move from $100 to $200 (100% increase) will appear the same as a price move from $10,000 to $20,000 (100% increase). Log scale is useful for large price changes over a longer-time period.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1713370075-bitcoin-price-chart-log-t2.png)

Bitcoin is an asset that has seen exponential price increases over its history. A linear scale chart can make early price movements appear insignificant, even though they represent a doubling or tripling of the price in short time frames. To review bitcoin’s price moves over its multiple halvings, it can be more useful to view in log scale.

Viewing in log scale showcases a trend of 12-18 month post-halving bull runs, which are followed by retracements to a new higher baseline.

So why might a post-halving bull-run trend exist?

First and foremost, halvings affect miners. The halving is the reduction of newly issued bitcoin, which are awarded to miners. Miners have expenses, such as hardware, electricity, employees, and land, which are denominated in fiat terms (dollars, euros, yen, etc…). This means miners earn revenues in bitcoin, while incurring expenses in fiat. 

Miners can therefore be viewed as a source of bitcoin-selling, since they must engage in ongoing selling of their bitcoin revenues to fund their operations. When the halving occurs, the amount of new bitcoin issued to miners is cut in half, reducing miners’ sell-pressure in the market.

It’s a supply-shock, although one that’s entirely foreseeable.

Because the price of bitcoin is determined by marginal buyers and sellers, a reduction in selling activity can cause an imbalance between supply and demand. Over time, this can lead to an increase in price as buy-pressure exceeds sell-pressure, bidding up the price until a new equilibrium is established.  

In addition to affecting miners’ selling activity, the halving can also affect the perceptions and behaviors of buyers:

* **Anticipatory buying:** In anticipation of the reduced sell-pressure from miners, buyers may seek to buy more bitcoin to get ahead of market price movements.
* **Publicity and hype:** Bitcoin halvings are special events that occur only every 4 years, which can draw additional media attention. As more people learn about Bitcoin and its benefits, the number of potential buyers can increase.
* **Historical precedence:** Post-halving bull runs can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as  previous halvings set expectations and change behaviors of market participants. Buyers may increase their buying and sellers may delay or reduce their selling, simply because they expect the price to rise in the months following a halving.

All that being said, it’s never certain whether a halving will be followed by a rise or fall in bitcoin’s price, or whether the price will remain unchanged. Each halving has occurred within different macroeconomic and market landscapes, including inflation rates, interest rates, global awareness, and different channels through which to buy bitcoin. All of these factors can affect buying and selling behavior.

The automatic reduction in Bitcoin’s supply-issuance rate

What is the Bitcoin halving?

A Lightning invoice is a payment request used in Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. It usually appears as a scannable QR-code and contains all the necessary information to send a bitcoin payment from one Lightning-enabled wallet app to another. 

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1715906702-learn-what-is-a-lightning-invoice-state-hero.png)

Lightning Network invoices (aka “LN invoices”) are how payments are made within the [Lightning Network](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-lightning-network). The Lightning Network is a second-layer on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, which enables real bitcoin transactions to be made faster and cheaper than on “on-chain” transactions. It’s able to do this through a global network of peer-to-peer connections, called “channels,” through which real payments can be routed instantly and privately.

If you’re making a payment or a purchase using bitcoin, including amounts ranging from less than $0.01 to a few hundred or thousand dollars, Lightning is often the fastest and cheapest way to go.

Whenever a transaction is made within the Lightning Network, it’s done using a Lightning invoice. A Lightning invoice is a compact, encoded form of payment instructions, which can be shown as a QR-code for easy sharing and scanning. The QR code is just a representation of the invoice, which is actually a string of alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers) that contain the encoded payment instructions.

The payment process for Lightning typically works like this:
1. The payee enters a payment amount to request using their Lightning-enabled wallet app
2. Their wallet app generates a Lightning invoice and displays it as a QR code
3. The payee shows or shares this QR code with the payer
4. The payer scans the QR code with their Lightning-enabled wallet app
5. The payer reviews and confirms the payment in their app
6. The payment is sent and delivered at lightspeed via the Lightning Network

The whole process can be done in a matter of seconds, which is ideal for person to person payments or day-to-day purchases.

## What’s in a Lightning invoice?
Lightning invoices are encoded with the necessary details for making the payment, such as the payment amount, destination, timestamp, and authorization information. 

To make a payment with a Lightning invoice, you don’t need to understand the details of the invoice. Your wallet app will decode the information and then prompt you to either confirm or deny the payment amount. Below is an example of a Lightning invoice:

`Lnbc2m1pnrjd6epp5xg37tadmcc479dt8c3rqk9mu4p08y8a5uvdd4repy4r8zzs40y4qdqqcqzzsxqrrs0fppqhsrcf2xszcp9nu4xgxzjwx6m3qnvlvrtsp5nft6epu8wxaxytyadq95ygyqvewuhuqh4zw6wevwvufxjr0zc0qq9qyyssqtafnv4cz4uuccg8xfw0ec2lgmr9u23rg85ac86zdnkn4mkq93krn283prlthqky5ujpv8x4cecs4634uu4gcw4f57l3haur8vg6myggp7z6erh`

Although it may appear random and complicated, we can break it down. 

A few important things to know about Lightning invoices:
* **Encoded:** They use bech32 encoding, which is a type of encoding that features built-in error detection, case-insensitivity, succinctness, and scalability.
* **Standardized:** The format follows standard rules, known as “BOLT” ([Basis of Lightning Technology](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/00-introduction.md)), which is publicly available and free to use so that anyone, anywhere can build their own Lightning-enabled bitcoin app.
* **Tamper-resistant:** If a single character is changed or omitted, the invoice will be invalid, which is useful to protect against manipulation or error.
* **Efficient:** Invoices can be quickly and easily generated, shared, decoded, and processed by any Lightning-enabled wallet app.
* **Scalable:** Invoice amounts can range from fractions of a penny to multiple whole bitcoin (provided there’s sufficient channel capacity), and can contain a variety of optional features.

So what do all those letters and numbers mean?

Lightning invoices can be broken into two main parts: the human readable part and the data part. These two parts are separated by the character “1” found near the beginning of the invoice.

The human readable part: “lnbc2m”
* **“lnbc”:** This is the standard Lightning prefix, with “ln” standing for “Lightning Network” and “bc” standing for bitcoin
* **“2m”:** This is the payment amount. The “m” suffix stands for “milli-bitcoin” (aka 100,000 [satoshis](https://strike.me/learn/what-are-satoshis)), which means “2m” is equal to 200,000 satoshis. Amounts can also be set as “u” for micro-bitcoin (aka 100 satoshis), “n” for nano-bitcoin (aka 0.1 satoshis), or “p” for pico-bitcoin (aka 0.0001 satoshis).

The data part: all the rest
* **Timestamp:** The time at which the invoice was created.
* **Payment hash:** A cryptographic hash of the payment preimage, which is used to verify that the correct payment has been made.
* **Public key of the payee’s node:** This is the destination of the payment
* **Description:** An optional note explaining the purpose of the invoice, which can be displayed to the payer.
* **Expiry time:** An optional time at which the invoice is no longer valid.
* **Routing information:** The optional information for how the payment can be routed through the Lightning Network.
* **Fallback address:** An optional Bitcoin address included to make a payment on-chain if the off-chain payment fails.
* **Signature:** To maintain security, the entire invoice is signed by the recipient’s node. This signature, which includes the human readable and data parts (minus the signature itself,) verifies that the invoice is genuine and that the payment is sent to the correct recipient.

If someone modifies or makes an error in copying the invoice, the signature will be invalidated. This helps prevent mistakes and manipulation of the information, such as the node ID, payment hash and fallback address, which if they were modified would let someone steal funds.

The structure of Lightning invoices is designed so that payments are robust, flexible, and accommodate various optional features without complicating the payment process. You can read all about Lightning invoices and how they work in the [Lightning documentation](https://github.com/lightning/bolts/blob/master/11-payment-encoding.md).

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1712088217-blog-migrating-a-ln-node-01.png)

## What are zero-amount or “amountless” Lightning invoices?
A zero-amount invoice is a type of Lightning invoice that doesn’t specify an amount for the payment. This is a flexible feature that allows the payer to decide how much to send. 

Zero-amount invoices are particularly useful for certain situations:
1. **Donations:** Payees can create invoices, which don’t specify an amount, allowing the payer to enter how much or little they want to send.
2. **Variable payments:** For pay-as-you-go or metered services, zero-amount invoices let payees generate invoices that can flexibly accommodate payments of unknown or changing amounts.
3. **Promotional payments:** Businesses can let customers pay what they want or offer a promotional program where different payment amounts result in different products or services rendered.

Not all Lightning-enabled wallet apps support zero-amount invoices since they require additional steps of communication between the payer and payee’s wallet apps.

## How to use Lightning invoices in the Strike app
The [Strike app](https://strike.me/download) is a fully functional Lightning-enabled bitcoin wallet. It lets you receive payments by generating Lightning invoices, including zero-amount invoices, as well as send to any other wallet’s Lightning invoice. 

With the Strike app you can also create Lightning invoices for either cash or bitcoin amounts, and the Strike app will receive the funds as you specified.

### Receiving bitcoin
To receive a bitcoin payment via the Lightning Network, visit your Bitcoin screen and tap the “Receive” button, then “Bitcoin wallet.”

By default, the Strike app will generate a zero-amount Lightning invoice, which is ready to be scanned or can be shared by copying the invoice’s string of characters and sending via instant message or email. You can edit the amount of the invoice by tapping the “Edit” button, which will generate an entirely new invoice to be scanned or shared. Also, the Lightning invoice will have a default expiry time, shown in the top right-corner of the invoice screen.

### Receiving cash
The process of receiving a cash payment via the Lightning Network follows the same steps as a bitcoin payment, except for a few key differences:
1. The process begins on your Cash screen, rather than your Bitcoin screen
2. If you specify a cash amount for the invoice, the invoice’s expiry time will be shorter, since it involves a temporary cash-bitcoin conversion rate.
3. The payment will be converted to cash and delivered to your cash balance.

The Strike app also lets users send and receive payments using [Lightning addresses](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-a-lightning-address), which can be a more familiar and intuitive way of transacting via Lightning.

Bitcoin payment requests within the Lightning Network

What is a Lightning invoice?

## Cash –> Bitcoin –> Cash
Send Globally is a feature in the Strike app that lets you send cash through the [Bitcoin Lightning Network](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-the-lightning-network) and have it delivered as local currency to bank or mobile money accounts. It’s a way of sending money globally or locally that can cut out unnecessary middlemen, achieve lower costs, and deliver at faster speeds.

It’s cash, sent through Bitcoin, delivered as local currency.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702407736-learn-what-is-send-globally-state-title.png)

To understand how it works, let’s take a look at Bitcoin.

[Bitcoin](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-bitcoin) is a digital asset that trades 24/7/365, uninterrupted. People worldwide buy and sell bitcoin across all major currencies. This means you can buy bitcoin with your local currency, send the bitcoin to someone else, who can then sell that bitcoin for a different currency. Cash to bitcoin to cash.

On top of Bitcoin is the Lightning Network, a second-layer scaling solution that lets people securely send real bitcoin faster and cheaper. With Lightning, people can now send and receive bitcoin, anywhere in the world at lightspeed, for low-to-no cost. 

With Bitcoin and Lightning, all you need are cash on/off ramps to make global cash transfers… which is where Strike comes in.

The [Strike app](https://strike.me/download) has full functionality for Bitcoin, Lightning, and cash. Strike has also built a global network of partnerships with bitcoin-powered companies. These global partners can receive bitcoin, convert it to their local currency, and deposit it directly to bank or mobile money accounts. 

So, how does it work?

With cash in your Strike account, you add your recipient’s bank or mobile account details, enter an amount to send, and hit “Confirm”. Immediately, your cash is converted to bitcoin, bitcoin is sent via Lightning to the global partner, the global partner sells the bitcoin for local currency, and the local currency is deposited into your recipient’s account.

The entire operation is automated, and can be done in seconds. Neither you, nor your recipient, ever owns bitcoin. It’s a cash to foreign currency transaction, made possible through Bitcoin.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702580906-using-bitcoin-to-send-money-abroad-02.png)

## Bitcoin as public payments infrastructure
This is a new approach to using Bitcoin. 

It’s using Bitcoin, not as an asset, but as a network to transfer value. It’s Bitcoin as public payments infrastructure for the world – an alternative to traditional money transfers.

In traditional finance, sending money internationally to friends and family (aka remittances) is slow and expensive. The average cost to remit money globally is roughly [6.20%](https://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/rpw_main_report_and_annex_q223.pdf) — as in you send $100 and $6.20 is lost to fees, exchange rates, and/or middlemen. 

There’s also delays. The money can take hours, days, or even weeks to arrive and be spendable. You’re also limited if you’re trying to send really small or really large amounts. It all depends on the country, currency, or companies involved.

But why is that?

Put simply, international banking processes.

To transfer local cash in a local bank to foreign cash in a foreign bank involves payment batching, net clearance schedules, chargeback risks, business hours, bank holidays, and of course fees for all middlemen involved. If the countries or currency-pairs are small or uncommon, then the rates, delivery times, and limitations are going to be worse. 

It’s an inefficient system, not designed for speed and savings.

![](https://www.datocms-assets.com/99305/1702580912-using-bitcoin-to-send-money-abroad-03.png)


## Lightning delivers real savings and real value
Send Globally is for saving time and money.

By using Bitcoin as the network to send value, Strike can deliver even better cross-currency exchange rates. That’s because the transfer is able to bypass a lot of the processes and middlemen that drive up costs. And since the money is sent through Lightning, it can arrive much faster than traditional money transfers.

Strike has already launched in a [number of countries](https://strike.me/faq/which-countries-are-available-for-send-globally/) (with more to come), each with super low minimums. All you need is your recipient’s bank or mobile account details, and then you can send to them in their local currency, typically in seconds. 

It’s as easy as texting.

You can also use it for travel. Airport money changers charge crazy high fees and bad rates, so why not use the cash in your Strike app while traveling abroad? On your next trip to the Philippines, just use your cash to pay people in pesos, by Sending Globally right to their mobile money account.

If your recipient doesn’t live in one of the supported countries, that’s okay. The Strike app is available in [countries worldwide](https://strike.me/faq/where-is-strike-available-wr), so you can send them cash or bitcoin instantly to their Strike account. Or they can use any other Lightning-enabled wallet app to receive payments. Bitcoin is interoperable, and is traded across all major currencies. It just works.

You can use Send Globally the Strike app today, or check out this [step-by-step walkthrough](https://strike.me/learn/how-to-use-send-globally) to learn more.

Happy sending.
