Money transfer company MoneyGram International, Inc. (MGI) and Coinme, the largest licensed cryptocurrency cash exchange in the United States, have forged an alliance.
The company will provide its API driven payment network to Coinme, which will be used to buy and sell the digital currency in cash.
For now, the service will be available at thousands of MoneyGram’s brick-and-mortar locations across the country. Gradually, the service will be expanded globally.
With all the buzz around cryptocurrency and a marked rise in its value might lure investors to put money on cryptocurrency. MoneyGram’s wider reach will be an easy source to buy crypto to invest in.
Other financial services firms like PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL, Visa Inc (NYSE:V). V, MasterCard Incorporated MA and others also made multiple strategic moves in the crypto space.
PayPal allows U.S customers to pay merchants globally using four different crypto currencies. Moreover, Mastercard enables companies to accept cryptocurrency payments on its network. Besides, Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) Inc. GPN partnered with BitPay to allow merchants to accept Bitcoins. However, the legendary Warren Buffett calls cryptocurrencies "risky" and "worthless.
Price of Bitcoin, the most popular of crypto, increased this year after finding support in Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey. But the last trading day robbed some of its sheen after Elon Musk stated that his company Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will stop accepting it for car purchases, citing environmental damages that Bitcoin mining causes.
MoneyGram’s decision to utilize its infrastructure for crypto transactions will help it monetize its already developed asset. This will also provide additional avenues of revenue diversification. There are numerous companies that accept crypto as a valid form of payment.
MoneyGram tried its hands at crypto by partnering with Ripple in 2019. The deal allowed the company to use Ripple's product XRP for cross-border payment and foreign exchange settlement. The partnership came to an end after regulators charged Ripple for conducting a $1.3-billion illegal securities offering. Ripple and MoneyGram might see each other in the future.
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