MoneyGram, Stellar, and Circle tie to offer blockchain-based payments

MoneyGram, a legacy cross-border peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and money transfer company, is looking to launch blockchain-powered payments.

A report unveiled this news on October 6, noting that the firm has joined hands with Stellar and Circle to provide instant money transfers through Circle’s stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). Reportedly, the companies will start piloting this project before the end of 2021.

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According to the report, the firms plan to launch their blockchain-based stablecoin bridge between crypto and fiat currencies in early 2022. In so doing, MoneyGram seeks to better service delivery to its massive user base. This exposure will also help push for the mass adoption of the nascent asset class.

Commenting on this bullish partnership, Denelle Dixon, the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation said,

Working with MoneyGram allows end consumers to have on- and off-ramps everywhere that MoneyGram’s vast agent network supports this.

According to her, the stablecoin bridge between crypto and fiat is transformational, seeing as it will introduce an effective medium to convert crypto to fiat and vice versa. She added that the companies seek to make this project as big as they possibly can.

Moving on from Ripple

This news comes after MoneyGram initially partnered with Ripple to leverage its on-demand liquidity (ODL) to enable foreign exchange (FX) trading. However, the company severed ties with Ripple months after getting embroiled in a legal battle with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

Per Alex Holmes, MoneyGram’s CEO and Chairman, the collaboration with Stellar is nothing like the Ripple one. He added that MoneyGram is working with Stellar on a larger scale because the network deals with consumer payments directly. 

In MoneyGram’s deal with Stellar, the United Texas Bank will serve as a settlement bank between MoneyGram and Circle. However, the same reason that prompted the company to pull out of its deal with Ripple has come back to haunt it again after the SEC subpoenaed Circle in the past week. 

However, MoneyGram seems to have built its resilience regarding regulators coming after the crypto space, with Holmes saying he is used to regulation. He further noted that the blockchain and crypto industries have progressed remarkably, and watchdogs are trying to play catch-up.

Following this news, Stellar (XLM/USD), the native token of the Stellar network, has surged 14.10% over the past 24 hours to change hands at $0.3604 at the time of writing.