MoneyGram buys stake in cryptocurrency cash exchange Coinme

finextra.com:

The investment - which closes out Coinme's Series A round - builds on an partnership between the two firms that lets people buy and sell bitcoin at some MoneyGram locations. The firms say that there are additional initiatives in the pipeline that are expected to continue to increase the value of the partnership.

Alex Holmes, CEO, MoneyGram, says: "Our investment in Coinme further strengthens our partnership and compliments our shared vision to expand access to digital assets and cryptocurrencies." MoneyGram has been aggressively pursuing crypto opportunities to ensure it does not get let behind in the blockchain era. The firm teamed up with Ripple back in 2019, tapping the blockchain startup's XRP digital currency for cross-border payment and foreign exchange settlement.

That partnership ended over a regulatory dust up with the Securities and Exchange Commission but MoneyGram recently joined forces with rival blockchain network Stellar to support instant money transfers using the USDC stablecoin. Says Holmes: "At MoneyGram, we continue to be bullish on the vast opportunities that exist in the ever-growing world of cryptocurrency and our ability to operate as a compliant bridge to connect digital assets to local fiat currency."