MoneyGram officially announced that it plans to launch a non-custodial crypto wallet.
It did so with a press release stating that the launch is planned for the first quarter of next year.
Summary
MoneyGram and the new crypto wallet
MoneyGram International is a well-known American company specializing in international peer-to-peer money transfers.
It was founded 1998 with the merger of two companies, Travellers Express and Integrated Payment Systems.
It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has a turnover of nearly $1 billion.
With 2,300 direct employees, and 347,000 offices worldwide, it is among the largest providers of cross-border money transfer services, so much so that it operates in 200 countries.
It has also entered the crypto sector for years now, thanks to a partnership with Ripple that was initiated as far back as 2019, and then ended after Ripple’s legal troubles with the SEC.
It later partnered with Stellar, Ripple’s decentralized rival, and since 2021 has been allowing Bitcoin to be purchased with US dollars at selected outlets through a partnership with Coinme.
Therefore, its recent crypto initiative is not all that surprising. Then again, the use of cryptocurrencies for cross-border P2P transactions reduces several problems caused by the old financial system based on many different national fiat currencies.
The crypto wallet
MoneyGram’s crypto wallet will be launched in the first quarter of 2024, and will specifically allow the use of stablecoins to seamlessly switch between fiat currencies and digital currencies.
So its users will be able to convert fiat currency to stablecoin, and then easily, quickly, and cost-effectively send stablecoins around the world. Those who receive them will have the option, again using their wallet, to convert stablecoins back into other fiat currencies. To cash in fiat currencies they will only need to go to one of the company’s 347,000 offices, as indeed they already do.
Then again, last year MoneyGram launched just such a fiat on and off-ramp service for digital wallets, which already allows them to cash out fiat currency in more than 180 countries around the world.
MoneyGram’s crypto wallet will be non-custodial, meaning its ownership will remain exclusive to users. It will be based on the Stellar network, and will be cost-free until June 2024.
Commentary on the new product
MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes said:
“Our vision to connect the world’s communities, by empowering our customers through innovative financial solutions, takes another step forward today. Through the services we provide in partnership with SDF, MoneyGram has made strides to create equitable access to the global financial system, having become the single largest fiat on and off-ramp provider offering blockchain access worldwide
The MoneyGram non-custodial digital wallet advances this mission even further. We’re thrilled to have the vision, strategic plans, innovative technology and expansive retail network in place to continue offering consumers access to the digital economy, but now further backed by our global reputation for speed, efficiency and trust
As a global fintech, the work we’re doing on the blockchain is one of the many ways we’re thinking differently about how MoneyGram’s services can play a broader role in the lives of consumers globally. We’re excited to continue to share more in the coming months.”
