MoneyGram Becomes Solana Blockchain Validator, Deepens Crypto Integration

MoneyGram has become a validator on the Solana blockchain, allowing the remittance company to participate directly in securing the network and processing transactions.

As part of its validator operations, the company is staking Solana's native SOL (SOL) token and processing transaction blocks. MoneyGram also joined the Solana Developer Platform, a program that supports companies building financial applications on the network.

MoneyGram said it now uses blockchain infrastructure and stablecoins across its treasury, product development and payments operations after more than five years of integrating digital assets into its business, which serves more than 60 million customers through nearly 500,000 retail locations worldwide.

The validator initiative follows MoneyGram's May launch of MGUSD, a US dollar stablecoin on the Stellar network that enables users to hold digital-dollar balances, transfer funds internationally and convert them into local currencies through the MoneyGram app.

Related: MoneyGram deepens blockchain payments push via Tempo partnership

Remittance companies expand stablecoin adoption

The validator launch comes amid broader adoption of stablecoins across the remittance industry, where companies are increasingly turning to blockchain networks to move money internationally.

In May, Western Union rolled out its dollar-backed stablecoin USDPT on Solana. The company said the token debuted in Bolivia and the Philippines and is expected to expand to more than 40 countries in 2026.

Speaking at Bitso's stablecoin conference in Mexico City last week, Western Union's vice president of Digital Assets, Malcolm Clarke, said the new stablecoin could reshape the economics of funding and settling transactions across its global remittance network while enabling around-the-clock money movement.

Clarke said the company processes more than $100 billion in annual transaction volume and estimated that prefunding requirements, idle capital and banking fees consume between 6% and 9% of those flows. Using stablecoins for settlement, combined with returns generated from the reserve assets backing those stablecoins, could instead produce profit margins of roughly 2% to 3%, he said.

Beyond remittances, stablecoins are also gaining traction as treasury and settlement tools. According to Bitso's Stablecoin Landscape in Latin America report for the first half of 2026, stablecoin transaction volumes among the crypto exchange's institutional clients rose 81% year on year, driven by liquidity management, cross-border payments and treasury operations.

Bitso's "Stablecoin Landscape in Latin America report for the first half of 2026." Source: Bitso

Stablecoin adoption is also gaining momentum in Africa's payments sector. Last week, Ripple acquired a stake in African fintech company Flutterwave, a cross-border payments provider operating in 35 countries. Flutterwave said it plans to integrate Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, Ripple Payments and the XRP Ledger into its payment network.