Previously generally known as Lightning Pay, Stacked will be the solely Bitcoin alternate left standing after a collection of mergers and bankruptcies within the New Zealand crypto trade. Doubling down on their imaginative and prescient to make Bitcoin “helpful as cash,” they simply launched a self-custodied Lightning pockets.
Discovered at StackedBitcoin.com, the corporate has taken a unique path than bigger exchanges within the nation, which, in keeping with Simon, co-founder and CRO of Stacked, are going all-in on promoting custodial and paper bitcoin. Exchanges like Sharesies are constructed following the Robinhood mannequin, with no path to withdraw crypto to self-custodied wallets. Whereas EasyCrypto, a well-liked swap alternate that obtained consumer fiat and despatched crypto again to consumer wallets — just like the Bull Bitcoin mannequin — was not too long ago purchased out by SwyFTX and shut down, funneling its userbase to the guardian custodial alternate.
Stacked, a 4-person firm that’s seen vital progress within the nation lately, believes that is the flawed path for the native Bitcoin trade, and as such has launched a self-custodied Bitcoin and Lightning pockets that enhances their very own swap alternate providing. Customers ship fiat to Stacked and obtain Bitcoin into their self-custodied pockets of selection. They’ll additionally pay utility payments and even their hire with Bitcoin by means of Stacked, who settle out the fiat recipients by way of New Zealand’s modern Open Banking funds framework.
The Stacked pockets, which incorporates a glossy and fashionable design, makes use of Breez and Spark SDKs within the again finish to offer customers a steady and easy-to-use Bitcoin expertise, with full Lightning Community integration. The app lets customers buy Bitcoin manually and on a schedule by way of Autostack a DCA fashion set it and overlook it buy characteristic. Customers can even handle contacts within the app to pay with bitcoin on their finish and ship fiat to recipients. The nation has no capital good points tax; as a substitute, Bitcoin earnings are taxed as earnings, leading to what could also be a way more favorable regulatory atmosphere for hyper Bitcoinization.
Stacked has been focusing its efforts to make Bitcoin helpful as cash within the Bitcoin Basin, a rising round economic system in Queenstown, New Zealand, which boasts round Bitcoin-accepting retailers up to now. The corporate has created a dedicated website for the neighborhood and hosts common occasions within the space, encouraging the native bitcoin economic system.
Within the 2025 monetary yr, 227,000 New Zealanders have been recognized as distinctive cryptoasset customers partaking in round 7 million transactions. Native cryptocurrency alternate volumes reached roughly NZ$7.8 billion. Stacked initiatives the native digital asset market will to generate income exceeding US$200 million in 2026. Almost 50% of New Zealanders are present or potential Bitcoin and digital asset buyers, in keeping with 2024 research by Protocol Theory.
