El Salvador's U.S. Bitcoin Partner Lacks Key Licenses

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, caused a stir this month when he declared his country would become the first in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender . To carry out this plan, the country will rely on partners like Chicago-based Zap Solutions Inc., whose digital wallet Strike is already being used by Salvadorans in a coastal town the crypto community has dubbed Bitcoin Beach.

Strike has the technology to help El Salvador embrace Bitcoin, but one thing it appears not to have are certain licenses to operate as a money transmitter.

An investigation by Decrypt discovered that Zap lacks licenses to operate in most US states. Experts suggest this means many cash and crypto transfers to El Salvador using Strike are potentially illegal—a situation that could further cloud the Central American country's already controversial Bitcoin plans.

The son of a man who founded a prominent Chicago brokerage firm and a woman who calls herself "Bitcoin Mom," Mallers is a hoodie-loving 20-something whose Twitter profile sports the laser eyes of Bitcoin believers. At a recent conference in Miami, a crypto crowd hailed Mallers as a hero for helping Bukele bring Bitcoin to El Salvador.

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