Key Takeaways
- The world of cryptocurrency and fiat, according to MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes, are now incompatible.
- MoneyGram is striving to bridge this gap by providing interoperability between the worlds of cryptocurrencies and fiat currency.
- With the new MoneyGram service, users will be able to send stablecoins and convert them to real money.
- Moreover, the USDC stablecoin will be used on the platform to pay for fiat currency.
Despite the fact that the cryptocurrency market appears to be in a downturn at the moment, there’s no doubt that the industry has gone from leaps and bounds in recent years, particularly in terms of acceptance. Although the Bitcoin business has grown significantly in recent years, there is no denying that there’s still a long journey to go before it achieves widespread adoption.
MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes acknowledged that “the worlds of crypto and fiat are not really compatible today,” but emphasised that the company is working to accommodate both.
“We’re attempting to be a bridge between the crypto and fiat worlds,” Holmes stated, adding that he believes the relationship would help spread crypto use in emerging economies.
Stellar, a leading blockchain project, and the payments firm recently announced a strategic cooperation. People who have digital wallets on the Stellar blockchain will be capable of converting their assets into Circle’s USDC stablecoin before cashing out via MoneyGram as a result of the agreement.
This venture comes amid when stablecoins, or crypto assets that strive to reserve/maintain a peg with fiat currencies, have come under renewed scrutiny following the controversial de-pegging of Terra (LUNAdecentralized )’s stablecoin UST, which resulted in the ecosystem’s collapse.
Because of the recent TerraUSD (UST) and Terra (LUNA) crashes, some netizens believe that stablecoins are still at risk of collapsing. After approximately $24 billion in capital evaporated from the two coins’ market capitalization in less than 24 hours, there is still a lot of attention. The breakdown of the Terra ecosystem had a knock-on impact throughout the sector, resulting in a crypto market crash.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding crypto, Holmes is hopeful about the prospects of digital currency. He believes cryptocurrency “is certainly here to stay and will be here for a long time, I believe it is critical to adopt it and bring it into the mainstream.”
Notwithstanding the market’s gloomy perception, the adoption rate continues to rise. Over the last few months, the market has seen an increase in innovation, with a number of projects releasing innovative improvements, goods, services, and partnerships.
MoneyGram announced its alliance with Stellar in October 2021, revealing plans to establish rapid money transfers utilising the USD currency (USDC) stablecoin, as previously reported.
MoneyGram had a cooperation with Ripple, a prominent remittance network, prior to collaborating with Stellar. MoneyGram was able to use Ripple’s platform for cross-border payments and foreign exchange settlement once the cooperation was signed in 2019.
