This Ripple Competitor Expands to Critical Region With New Partnership

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The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and MoneyGram, one of the world’s leading global payments networks, have extended their partnership for multiple years, with the next phase targeting Latin America — a region where millions of families depend on cross-border remittances as a primary financial lifeline.

The announcement, made at Stellar House in Mexico City on April 22, 2026, marks more than five years of collaboration between the two organizations. Since their initial partnership in 2021, MoneyGram and SDF have built what they describe as the world’s largest cash on/off-ramp for digital assets, launched the MoneyGram Ramps API for third-party developers, and integrated a stablecoin balance directly into the MoneyGram app. The latest extension signals a commitment to scaling that infrastructure well beyond its current footprint.

Latin America Takes Center Stage

According to the official press release, the new phase of the partnership expands stablecoin utility across Latin America, a region long underserved by traditional financial infrastructure. The MoneyGram app’s stablecoin balance — powered by Stellar, Crossmint, and Circle’s USDC — is already live in Colombia, where it gained considerable traction following its launch. The service has now extended to El Salvador, with additional markets across Central and South America expected to follow throughout 2026. Global expansion beyond the region is also planned.

For users in these markets, the service addresses a persistent gap. Customers can instantly receive funds into a US dollar-denominated balance, hold stable digital dollars, and cash out at nearly 500,000 MoneyGram retail locations across more than 200 countries and territories — a physical network that most blockchain-only solutions cannot match.

Anthony Soohoo, Chairman and CEO of MoneyGram, noted in the press release that the company is focused on building an open payments network that operates across both fiat and stablecoin rails. Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of SDF, described the combination of Stellar’s blockchain infrastructure and MoneyGram’s global reach as the foundation needed to expand access and lower costs for cross-border payments at scale.

A Broadening Stellar Ecosystem

The MoneyGram partnership does not exist in isolation. According to a post by @StellarOrg on X, the Stellar network has been accumulating significant ecosystem momentum entering this phase of expansion. SDF’s stated 2026 strategy centers on scaling what already works, strengthening proven infrastructure, and directing investment toward areas where the network must be prepared for increased demand.

That momentum has been building steadily. The Stellar network crossed the $1 billion mark in real-world assets (RWAs) at the start of 2026, with activity spanning tokenized bonds, institutional financial products, and new integrations from partners across multiple sectors.

The network’s design — optimized for payment use cases with low fees and near-instant settlement — continues to attract institutional builders looking for infrastructure built for real-world throughput rather than speculative activity.

Implications For The Ripple Competitor

The expanded MoneyGram partnership could represent a critical juncture for the Stellar ecosystem, as the network moves further into high-volume remittance corridors where transaction demand could translate directly into network activity.

The Latin American rollout, with Colombia and El Salvador as the initial anchors, offers a measurable proving ground for whether Stellar’s infrastructure can deliver on the financial inclusion promise at scale — and whether that utility eventually registers in broader demand for XLM.

As of this writing, XLM trades at around $0.26, holding relatively steady as the ecosystem awaits broader market reaction to the partnership’s expansion news.

XLM's price moving sideways on the daily chart. Source: XLMUSD on Tradingview

Cover image from ChatGPT, XLMUSD chart from Tradingview

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