Money-transferring services giant MoneyGram is prepping to launch a new crypto-focused service.
According to a new Bloomberg report, MoneyGram is partnering with XRP challenger and payments blockchain Stellar (XLM) to allow customers to send and cash out stablecoins on the XLM blockchain.
Says MoneyGram Chief Executive Officer Alex Holmes,
“The world of crypto and the world of fiat are not really compatible today.
We’re trying to be a bridge from the crypto world to the fiat world.”
The partnership was first revealed in October 2021. According to the announcement, MoneyGram’s payments on the Stellar blockchain will utilize the world’s second-largest stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC).
As stated by MoneyGram chairman and chief executive Alex Holmes at the time,
“As crypto and digital currencies rise in prominence, we’re especially optimistic about the potential of stablecoins as a method to streamline cross-border payments.”
Trust in stablecoins has been tested this year with the de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST) and the subsequent collapse of the Terra (LUNA) ecosystem. Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy for USD Coin issuer and payments platform Circle, explains why de-pegging is unlikely to happen with USDC.
“We’re not taking the dollar and putting it in the reserves and then lending it out…
Instead, the reserves are strictly cash and US Treasuries.”
Says Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, on the value of blockchain technology to the remittance industry,
“There are billions of cash-dependent people globally who could benefit from the utility that digital assets and blockchain provide…
The answer is what we’re building through this partnership – a service for helping them go from cash to digital assets.”
Stellar is trading for $0.14 at time of writing, up 9% over the last 24 hours.
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