Moneygram will offer crypto payment services

Moneygram, an international P2P payments company, has announced that it will be possible in the United States to use the platform to buy, sell and hold some major crypto assets.

Indeed, via a press release, the payments giant said it will offer services for buying cryptocurrencies in almost every country in the United States and Washington.

The list of supported cryptocurrencies is currently limited to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. However, Moneygram said that as early as next year, the list of supported crypto assets will grow in compliance with legal requirements.

Moneygram and Coinme partnership to support crypto

Following Moneygram‘s announcement about the introduction of crypto assets on its platform, the company strengthens its partnership with Coinme, a US crypto exchange specializing in crypto-to-cash conversion and vice versa. 

The news strengthens the already robust business relationship between the exchange and the payments giant. Which, as early as May 2021, allowed people to convert BTC to cash or switch from cash to Bitcoin.

Alex Holmes, president and CEO of MoneyGram, said: 

“Cryptocurrencies add to all the work we are doing at MoneyGram. From dollars to euros, yen and so on, MoneyGram allows instant access to over 120 currencies around the world, and we view crypto and digital currencies as another input and output option.”

Apparently, the first collaboration between Moneygram and Coinme dates back to the previous year. In fact, Moneygram made a strategic minority investment earlier in the year by acquiring 4% of the ownership.

Since then, Moneygram and Coinme made it possible to buy and sell Bitcoin with cash in physical outlets. In fact, the two giants retained a 4% fee and an added fixed charge of $2.75, limited to 12,000 outlets on US soil.

With this latest announcement, Moneygram hinted that the two companies have other initiatives in store to grow the value of the partnership. The intentions of Moneygram read: 

“Now that consumer interest in digital currencies is booming, we are in a unique position to respond to demand and bridge the gap between blockchain and traditional finance services with our global network, compliant solutions. level and a strong propensity for technological innovation.”

Moreover, it is important to note that in addition to Coinme, MoneyGram has also invested in other crypto-related companies, such as Stellar and G-Coin. 

The company also works with Circle on cross-border deals with its USD Coin (USDC). In 2023, MoneyGram will also be the sponsor of the Haas F1 team.

Stellar and Ripple: everyone wants Moneygram

Before the collaboration with Coinme, in 2018 Moneygram had a brief partnership with Ripple. 

The crypto “bank,” Ripple, supposedly attempted to collaborate on a multi-year partnership, but following the SEC-initiated process, Moneygram backed off, announcing a standby of operations with XRP. 

In a later announcement, the payments giant had formally declared that the partnership between the two was over.

At this point, Stellar, with its own XLM crypto, would seize the opportunity to take Ripple’s place. 

The two cryptocurrencies are competitors in the same portion of the market, and the two coins are among the most correlated in terms of price trends in the crypto market. A few months later, Stellar in fact launched its own offer to Moneygram to replace its rival. 

Thus, Moneygram also initiated a partnership with Stellar, the purpose of which is to enhance its retail service of converting cryptocurrency to cash and vice versa. 

Therefore, using XLM’s network when converting stablecoin to FIAT is the best solution for the platform. 

Stellar thus lands a blow to Ripple in the institutionally accepted cryptocurrency sector and continues its eternal challenge with the crypto loved by big banks. 

In the midst of the rivalry of these two crypto assets, Moneygram carefully chooses how to expand its services without suffering the damage of the clashes of the two. 

Beyond Moneygram, several payments companies are eyeing crypto, why? 

MoneyGram’s ambitions toward expansion into digital assets are also shared by other payment platforms. 

In fact, many other companies have shown equal or greater interest in the nascent and ever-expanding crypto sector. 

Such is the case with Visa, which in early October announced a partnership with the FTX exchange to offer the crypto debit card in forty countries, particularly in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. 

Visa, another payments giant, is among the first institutions to turn its gaze to the crypto world and implement effective solutions for the purpose of total inclusion in this sector. 

Indeed, cards linked to FTX accounts allow users to spend their crypto assets at the millions of businesses associated with the payment circuit, paying with local currency but actually spending their digital assets. 

For its part, Mastercard, Visa’s ultimate rival, has not stood idly by. 

As a matter of fact, following Visa’s moves, Mastercard published a comprehensive post on its blog in mid-October about its plans to help cryptocurrencies become an ordinary means of payment. 

Indeed, Mastercard launched Crypto Secure, a platform that analyzes virtual asset service provider reliability and decides which transactions to approve, in defense of lenders and consumers. 

Giants or not, all payment services and more are interested in pointing to crypto and new decentralized payment systems. Arguably, we are moving for the first time toward a revolution and an appreciation for a system created to work without central controls.