MoneyGram Teams With Steller Blockchain to Facilitate Remittance Transactions in USDC Stablecoin

Despite the present shaky market situation, MoneyGram CEO believes that the virtual assets industry is here to stay.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 31 May 2022 14:30 IST

MoneyGram Teams With Steller Blockchain to Facilitate Remittance Transactions in USDC Stablecoin

Photo Credit: Facebook/ MoneyGram

Pegged against the US dollar, the current value of the USDC stands at $1.05

Highlights

MoneyGram is the world's second biggest money transfer firm
MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes believes crypto is here to stay
MoneyGram is expected to bring more crypto related services

MoneyGram is making it possible for users to send USDCs stablecoin and the receiver can cash them out in fiat currencies. Steller blockchain has been partnered to facilitate these transactions. Headquartered in Dallas, US, MoneyGram offers online and in-person domestic and international money transfer as well as bill payment services. It has been in the finance industry for over 42 years. Its CEO Alex Holmes recently voiced his predictions on the future of the crypto sector.

The digital assets industry saw the year's second-largest outflow as investors pulled out some $141 million (roughly Rs. 1,109 crore) from the industry last week following Terra's recent crash.

Despite the present shaky market situation, Holmes believes that the virtual assets industry is here to stay.

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“It is here to stay and it's going to be here for a long time despite recent selloffs and volatility,” Bloomberg quoted Holmes as saying.

As part of its services, MoneyGram is now allowing users to conduct remittance transactions in USD Coin (USDC).

A remittance is a non-commercial money transfer initiated by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a person with ties abroad to support the household income of their families in their home countries.

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Several regions like El Salvador, that legalised Bitcoin last year, and Tonga, among others rely on these remittances to oil their economies.

Usually, money transfer services such as Western Union cut a substantial amount from the total fund as service fee. This reduces the money that is reaching these dependent countries via its diaspora working abroad.

USD Coin has been chosen as MoneyGram to facilitate quick and cheap transactions of remittances.

Pegged against the US dollar, the current value of the USDC stands at $1.05 (roughly Rs. 82) as per Gadgets 360's crypto-price tracker.

“If a country like El Salvador is going to make Bitcoin seamless with US dollars in country, I think that consumers, through MoneyGram, should be able to transfer Bitcoin to El Salvador or transfer dollars and convert them to Bitcoin. If that's where the world is going, let's participate in that world, and let's see how we can help fulfil that opportunity,” Holmes reportedly added.

Meanwhile, the Stellar blockchain, founded in 2014 is an open-source decentralised protocol, capable of low-cost transfers of digital currencies to fiat. This allows cross-border transactions.

Will crypto tax hurt the industry in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: MoneyGram, USDC, USD Coin, Stablecoin, Alex Holmes, Cryptocurrency

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More