San Francisco-based Ripple Labs has just completed a $50 million investment in MoneyGram. The funds will help support the use of On-Demand Liquidity, a global payments product that uses XRP.
Ripple first committed to the investment in June of this year. It now owns almost 10 percent of the company’s outstanding common stock.
Ripple’s $50 Million MoneyGram Investment Hasn’t Made XRP Pump Despite Apparent Use
Blockchain payments startup Ripple Labs has just invested a further $20 million in US money transfer company MoneyGram. In June, Ripple pledged $50 million total and made an initial payment of $30 million. The recent subsequent payment, announced via a earlier today, concludes the commitment.
The $20 million bought MoneyGram equity at a considerable premium over the current market price. Currently just over $3, the San Francisco firm paid $4.10 for each share. Ripple now owns 9.95 percent of the company’s outstanding common stock of the company, and approximately 15 percent on a fully-diluted basis including non-voting warrants held by Ripple.
The money is expected to support MoneyGram’s continuing use of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity service. The global payments product uses the Ripple-linked digital asset XRP to make almost instant payments at an incredibly low cost.
MoneyGram chair and CEO, Alex Holmes, said of the ongoing partnership between the two companies:
“Partnerships with companies like Ripple support innovation and allow us to invest in creating better customer experiences. I anticipate furthering our growth into new corridors and exploring new products and services.”
He also commented on initial successes using the On-Demand Liquidity product. MoneyGram is reportedly now using the service to move as much as ten percent of its Mexican Peso foreign exchange volume. It is also already using On-Demand Liquidity in Europe, Australia , and the Philippines.
Ripple CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, said he was encouraged by how much progress had been made since Ripple made its first investment in MoneyGram this summer. He also stated:
“Digital assets and blockchain technology have the potential to make a tremendous impact on cross-border payments – MoneyGram and Ripple is an example of that.”
Despite the fact that XRP appears to be being used more for cross border settlement, the price of the crypto asset has not fared especially well versus the rest of the market in recent weeks and months. Despite its apparent usage by MoneyGram, the value has remained fairly constant in terms of Bitcoin and has dropped in tandem with other digital assets lately in terms of dollar value.
XRP price has not yet benefited from apparent MoneyGram usage.
Based in Europe, Rick has written about the cryptocurrency industry since 2016. He was first drawn to Bitcoin as a means of payment but quickly became fascinated by its wider potential implications. His interests lie in the political, economic, and social impact of the unfolding digital asset revolution.
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