Moneygram Debuts Crypto Purchases On Mobile App

Jimmy Aki
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MoneyGram, a cross-border payment processor, has announced the launch of a new feature that would enable users in the United States to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies via its platform. 

Buy, Sell, and Hold Crypto 

In an official announcement, MoneyGram explained that the crypto suite would be available to customers in almost every state in the country and the District of Columbia. 

With this new feature, U.S. customers can make crypto transactions and be in the custody of their coins. While the service appears to be restricted to American users, there is every indication that MoneyGram could expand it to other countries.

The payment processor confirmed that it would begin the service with Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin and expand to other coins by 2023.  

MoneyGram claimed that its new crypto service had been made possible because of its partnership with Coinme, a crypto exchange and application program interface (API)-driven crypto-as-a-service provider. 

While speaking on the update, the MoneyGram Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Alex Holmes, explained that the company has witnessed a surge in consumer interest in digital assets. With the company’s stature and global network, MoneyGram believes they are uniquely positioned to meet the demand and connect with traditional and blockchain financial services. 

Holmes added that the rollout of the service is just the latest initiative from the company as it hopes to grow real-world crypto and blockchain adoption. 

Payment Services Jump on the Crypto Train

The MoneyGram initiative appears to be the latest development in a growing trend—payment processors and services expanding their offerings to cover digital assets.

Last month, Trademark Attorney Mike Kondoudis revealed on social media that Western Union—one of MoneyGram’s biggest competitors—had filed three trademarks related to crypto. The move signaled that the company could also be gearing up to offer crypto-related services.

 

Kondoudis further disclosed that the trademarks had covered different activities, including managing wallets, token value issuings, brokerage, insurance services, and the exchange of digital assets and commodities derivatives. 

Western Union has made its name in cross-border remittances and is showing increasing interest in cryptocurrency. As of 2015, the company had partnered with cross-border crypto payment service Ripple to settle remittance payments. However, that partnership remained in the test phase, and Western Union confirmed years back that it would not be adding any crypto services to its offerings. 

Likewise, CashApp — one of the first digital payment providers to accept cryptocurrency — expanded its digital asset offering last month by adding support for the Bitcoin Lightning network. The new feature will make it easier for users to send and receive Bitcoin on the quicker and more scalable layer-two protocol. 

Bitcoin Lightning is especially suitable for smaller transactions, offering near-instant transaction processing and affordable transfers. 

CashApp, created by Block, has already offered limited support for the Lightning Network, as users can pay for invoices by scanning lightning QR codes. All transactions involving QR codes will go through the Lightning Network by default unless otherwise specified. 

The Lightning Network feature has a transaction limit of $999 every seven days and is only available to U.S customers —– excluding those in New York State.

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About Jimmy Aki PRO INVESTOR

Based in the UK, Jimmy is an economic researcher with outstanding hands-on and heads-on experience in Macroeconomic finance analysis, forecasting and planning. He has honed his skills having worked cross-continental as a finance analyst, which gives him inter-cultural experience. He currently has a strong passion for regulation and macroeconomic trends as it allows him peek under the global bonnet to see how the world works.