The financial details weren’t disclosed, but the investment gave the Stellar
Development Foundation a seat on MoneyGram’s board of directors.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has become a minority investor in
payments provider MoneyGram International.
In an Aug. 15 X post, Stellar Development Foundation CEO and Executive Director
Denelle Dixon announced the new investment saying the decision to provide funds
to MoneyGram “was an easy one.”
In an accompanying blog post, Dixon added the investment was made out of the SDF’s own cash
treasury using assets set aside to support the operations of the foundation.
This was used instead of Stellar’s Enterprise Fund used to invest in startups and earlier-stage companies.
While Dixon did not divulge financial details, she did state the investment gave SDF a seat on MoneyGram’s board of directors.
She explained the investment positions from SDF will contribute to MoneyGram
by expanding its digital business and exploring blockchain technology.
“Most importantly, it signifies a rededication from MGI, one of the world’s
leading global financial technology, to becoming a digital-forward leader in fintech.”
The Stellar Development Foundation established a commercial partnership with MoneyGram in 2021 but has been collaborating on tools and technology with the firm since 2019.
In November 2022, MoneyGram enabled United States-based users to buy,
sell and hold cryptocurrency via its mobile app.
In July 2023, the firm announced a new account deposit service for consumers in
Venezuela through its partnership with local bank Banesco.
Stellar’s native token Stellar XLM$0.130
did not register a reaction to the announcement, dropping 4.4% on the day
to $0.129 at the time of writing, according to Cointelegraph price data.
XLM got a lift following Ripple’s partial court victory but has declined 28% since
then and remains down 85% from its January 2018 all-time high of $0.875.