Jack Mallers received his first Bitcoin from his father in 2013, when it was worth less than $100. Less than a decade later, he was helping El Salvador stack thousands of BTC, shaping the future of global finance in ways most people only read about in textbooks.
Mallers is the founder and CEO of Strike, the global Bitcoin payments app, and co-founder of Twenty One, a Bitcoin-native treasury company. Over the past decade, he has been at the forefront of Bitcoin infrastructure, from early applications on the Lightning Network to building institutional-grade financial systems that make digital assets practical for everyday use.
His early fascination with coding led to ventures such as Zap, one of the first Lightning Network applications, built from his mother’s basement. Strike followed, enabling instant, low-cost payments, cross-border remittances and even salaries in Bitcoin. The platform attracted high-profile users and made headlines when it played a pivotal role in El Salvador becoming the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. A milestone Mallers helped realise through hands-on collaboration with government leaders and policy makers.
Jack Mallers’ work is driven by a belief that Bitcoin is more than a financial asset. It’s a moral code, resistant to censorship, inflation and confiscation. His approach combines technical ingenuity with a vision for open financial systems that empower individuals and institutions alike. Across Asia, where digital payments and alternative financial networks are evolving rapidly, his experience offers clear parallels: scalable, decentralised systems that bypass traditional intermediaries are already reshaping how people send, store and interact with money.
As a speaker, Mallers gives audiences an insider’s look at building Bitcoin infrastructure, navigating the geopolitics of digital money, and tackling real-world challenges of global payment systems. He shows how open networks, principled design, and decentralised finance are actively reshaping the future of money and the opportunities available to businesses and individuals alike.
