Lava, a leading bitcoin fintech company backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, right now introduced an angel funding from Alex Crognale, the first professional soccer player in the United States League (USL) to receive a portion of his salary in bitcoin. The funding aligns with the launch of Lava’s revolutionary “Get Paid in Bitcoin” characteristic, which permits customers to seamlessly convert their paychecks into bitcoin with “zero charges”, in keeping with a press launch shared with Bitcoin Journal.
Crognale, a defender for San Antonio FC, gained consideration in 2021 when he opted to obtain a part of his wage in bitcoin. Since October 2021, when he publicly introduced his first wage fee in bitcoin, the asset has grown roughly 136% to $124,000, giving him loads of time to develop his bitcoin treasure with additional wage funds within the meantime.
Whereas the scale of Crognale’s funding in Lava was not disclosed, it however displays his confidence within the firm, whose mission is to make bitcoin accessible for on a regular basis monetary administration. “As an athlete, I’ve all the time approached my profession with self-discipline and a deal with the lengthy recreation—that’s why I grew to become the primary USL participant to receives a commission in bitcoin,” Crognale stated within the press launch, including that “with Lava, I see an organization that’s additionally constructing for the long run and creating merchandise that Bitcoiners want, to maximise and defend their financial savings—right now and into the long run. I’m excited to be each an investor and a consumer!”
Lava’s “Get Paid in Bitcoin” characteristic permits customers to direct-deposit their paychecks into the Lava app, out there on iOS and Android, and mechanically convert them into bitcoin with out incurring charges. This characteristic helps dollar-cost averaging (DCA), a technique favored by bitcoin traders for its means to mitigate volatility by means of common purchases whatever the worth. Moreover, Lava permits customers to borrow in opposition to their bitcoin holdings, permitting them to spend {dollars} whereas retaining potential upside from their bitcoin investments.
Shehzan Maredia, CEO of Lava, cited Crognale as an inspiration and stated he hopes extra individuals will think about placing a portion of their paycheck straight into bitcoin, “I consider we’re shifting in the direction of a world the place individuals save in bitcoin and spend in {dollars}. That is one among many instruments we’re constructing to make that doable,” he added.
The launch of this characteristic positions Lava as a pacesetter in bridging conventional finance with bitcoin adoption, catering to a rising viewers of people and companies searching for to combine cryptocurrency into their monetary methods. Their platform has a robust deal with self-custody, integrating their companies deeply with the Bitcoin community, whereas supporting USD and USDC payouts, making it a “decentralized finance” firm by most measures. By eliminating conversion charges from bitcoin purchases, Lava removes a big barrier to entry, making it simpler for customers to stack sats—a well-liked time period within the bitcoin neighborhood for accumulating small however important quantities of the cryptocurrency over time.
