Strike has launched Bitcoin Interest on Cash. The new feature pays 3.6% annual interest on cash balances, paid out in bitcoin.
Jack Mallers announced the product on October 6, 2026. Interest accrues daily and pays out monthly in sats.
Cash balances sit at Cross River Bank. Deposits carry FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per depositor. Strike is not a bank. It provides the platform layer while the regulated bank holds the dollars.
There are no minimums and no maximums. Payouts trigger when daily interest exceeds $0.01, so very small balances may take time to generate a first payout. Users must opt in through the Strike app. The product is available to US individuals only. 
On the Bitcoin side, Strike says user holdings are kept one to one in multi-signature cold storage. The bitcoin is not lent out or rehypothecated.
Strike’s own math assumes a bitcoin price of about $85,000. At that level, an $8,000 cash balance earns roughly $288 per year, or about 338,824 sats.
The feature builds on Strike’s 2026 product push, including expanded bitcoin-backed lending options. Strike keeps the two products separate. Bitcoin Interest on Cash is not tied to the lending business.
River got there first. River launched its own Bitcoin Interest on Cash in October 2024, paying 3.8% on cash deposits, FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Strike’s 3.6% rate sits slightly below its rival’s.
The skeptics are asking the old question: where does the yield come from? Celsius and BlockFi customers learned the answer the hard way. They were the yield.
Strike says this product is different. The company states the bitcoin is not lent out or rehypothecated, and cash balances sit at Cross River Bank. But trust in Strike’s custody has been questioned before. Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo has warned about Strike’s terms of service permitting a single level of re-hypothecation, letting customer bitcoin collateral move to third-party capital providers with little disclosure.
There is also a definitional trap worth knowing. USDB rewards in Wallet of Satoshi look like interest but are not: a discretionary promotional benefit funded by Flashnet that can be reduced, suspended, or discontinued at any time. Strike’s product is structured as interest on bank deposits, a more conventional arrangement, but the episode is a reminder to read what backs any advertised rate.
References: Strike announcement via Jack Mallers on X (Oct 6, 2026); How Much Interest Do You Earn Holding USDB in Wallet of Satoshi?, Lightning News.
