MoneyGram, which serves roughly 60 million active customers, views blockchain rails as a way to make cross-border transfers faster, cheaper and easier to track, without requiring customers to think about the technology powering them. Ramps fits into the vision as it connects digital assets into MoneyGram’s extensive brick-and-mortar network to help everyday customers turn tokens into local cash.
“The future of payments is built on access,” MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo said in a statement. “Bringing MoneyGram Ramps to Solana is another step toward building a truly open, global payments network.”
MoneyGram has spent several years building connections between its traditional payments network and crypto. In 2022, it rolled out a service with the Stellar Development Foundation that allowed users to move between cash and Circle’s USDC stablecoin through its retail network, giving crypto wallets a physical entry and exit point for digital dollars.
The firm took that strategy further in June, announcing MGUSD, its own dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Bridge, the stablecoin infrastructure company owned by Stripe, on the Stellar network.
The company has also been deepening its ties with Solana, becoming a validator in June, helping process and secure transactions on the network.
MoneyGram was also listed as a one of the partners in Open USD, the Stripe-led stablecoin initiative that aims to share revenue with a consortium of backers.