Facebook’s Novi, Strike’s Bitcoin App Spell Trouble for Western Union Stock, Analyst Says

Facebook’s Novi, Strike’s Bitcoin App Spell Trouble for Western Union Stock, Analyst Says
Western Union was downgraded to neutral from buy at investment bank BTIG, which says the company’s money transfer platform may face pressure from free alternatives including Facebook’s new digital remittance app, Novi.BTIG analyst Mark Palmer also sees competition from Strike’s service, which leverages the Lightning Network on the Bitcoin blockchain for free remittances. Jack Mallers’ Strike is best known as an early partner of El Salvador’s bitcoin experiment.“The upshot is that the money transfer space appears ripe for disruption, and the disrupters are arriving,” Palmer wrote in a note to clients.Read more: US Lawmakers Push Back on Facebook’s Novi Wallet…