Jack Mallers' payments platform Strike launched a new bitcoin lending product Thursday aimed at borrowers who want to avoid the sudden asset wipeouts that plague traditional crypto loans.
The core mechanic: Strike's loans don't trigger immediate liquidation if bitcoin price swings. Instead, the borrower keeps their collateral intact as long as they service debt on schedule. If they miss an interest payment or hit the maturity date without repaying, they get a grace period to settle up. Only after that window closes does Strike move to partial liquidation.
This flips the standard crypto lending playbook. Most platforms liquidate aggressively the moment collateral value dips below a threshold. A borrower with 1 bitcoin might wake to find it already sold at a bad price because the asset moved overnight. Strike's structure gives retail borrowers breathing room to cover a payment or refinance without losing collateral to market timing.
The Block reported the product, though Strike has not disclosed specific grace-period length, interest rates, or exact collateral ratios. Those details matter for real risk assessment. A 24-hour grace period is vastly different from a week, and interest costs add friction to the borrowing math.
Strike has built its brand on streamlined bitcoin and lightning payments for retail and merchants. Lending is a natural expansion, one that taps growing demand for non-custodial borrowing that doesn't bleed collateral to volatility. The design signals confidence that borrowers will repay on time if given reasonable terms and fault tolerance.