Guys, this past week we heard reports of cross-border payments giant MoneyGram International Inc. ramping up its crypto game and working with the  Stellar Development Foundation for the instant transfer of Circle's USDC stablecoin, right? And we saw reports noting that this might not be a good thing for Ripple, i.e., XRP. Is it a big deal for XLM though? And is this partnership really novel in the crypto space? Let's get into it. 

Instant Payments with Stellar

A while back, you guys may recall, I was extolling the virtues of the XLM coin. For a quick summary, reputable founder, affordable coin, lightning fast transactions at low cost and, in some regards, viewed as the nemesis of XRP. And before you hasten to correct me, I m oversimplifying the nemesis bit but there was some friction with the leadership at Ripple leading to co-founder Jed McCaleb going off to found Stellar. 

Stellar has since inked some major partnership deals, including its selection by the Ukrainian government to build its central bank digital currency. So we can say that, relatively speaking, given the inherent fluctuations in the cryptocurrency markets, Stellar is relatively stable, right? And I am guessing that its strong foundation might have been a key selling point for Circle, as the USDC was added to the Stellar blockchain.

It might be noteworthy that USDC was also added to the Algorand blockchain together with Tether. Algorand has also been in the headlines recently following its partnership with the Latin American financial infrastructure company, Koibanx, to develop the blockchain infrastructure for the government of El Salvador on top of Algorand's technology. 

Another crypto-fiat bridge?

The MoneyGram-Stellar partnership announced last Wednesday, October 6th, will allow for instant money transfers using Circle's USDC stablecoin, beginning with a pilot phase this quarter. And according to a CoinDesk article, early 2022 will see a gradual rollout of the ledger-based stablecoin bridge between crypto and local currencies with a view toward connecting MoneyGram’s 150 million or so consumers.

See what they said there? A stablecoin bridge between crypto and local currencies. First VISA, now MoneyGram? And then there's Alchemy Pay's ACH and Flexa's AMP. Come on, guys, this wrestling arena is getting pretty packed, innit? I'm losing sight of the fighters in the ring.

Did Stellar upstage XRP?

And while I'm here throwing out conspiracy theories, adding a little salt and pepper here and there like Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, the man in the meme,   here's another: what's the deal with the MoneyGram-Ripple partnership? Some of you may remember that in 2019, Ripple and MoneyGram had entered into a partnership for crossborder payment and foreign exchange settlement. Well, the wheels on that train came grinding to a halt following Ripple's litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission which began in December 2020.   

And now the Stellar announcement.

Alex Holmes, MoneyGram's chairman and CEO, is however maintaining that the partnership with Stellar goes beyond the Ripple agreement. 

So can we expect XLM to surge?

I don't think so. The XLM, based on my understanding of this agreement, does not exchange hands. The agreement, rather, involves the transfer of the USDC stablecoin and leverages Stellar's technology. I don't see it moving the needle much. And I'm not trying to be negative guys, but I am trying to be practical.

Anyways, what do I know? I'm no crypto expert, and I certainly am NOT qualified to give you trading and investment advice. We're just having a conversation here, all right?

So I've got tons of questions with this one, guys. Like tell me, how do you feel about the XLM-MoneyGram partnership? Are you bagging XLM because of this announcement? Do you expect the XLM to surge in early 2022?

Incidentally, XLM was trading at $0.358 at the time of this post, having climbed 13.27% in the past few days.

So let's talk guys. I appreciate your conversation and perspective.

I appreciate the follows as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see my numbers climb to 284 this week. Thanks for the love and support, guys. I see each of you.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm off on the hunt for another story. Until the next time, remember, please be safe!