MoneyGram takes validator role on Solana, joins institutional developer platform

MoneyGram has joined the Solana ecosystem as a network validator and participant in the Solana Developer Platform, expanding the payments company’s blockchain infrastructure strategy beyond stablecoins and payment services.

According to a June 22 announcement from MoneyGram, it now operates an active validator on the Solana blockchain, where it stakes SOL, processes transaction blocks, and contributes to network security and performance. The company also joined the Solana Developer Platform, a development environment designed for institutions building financial products on Solana.

The company described the move as the next stage of a blockchain strategy that has become part of its treasury, product development and payments operations over the past five years.

MoneyGram expands blockchain infrastructure role

Luke Tuttle, Chief Product and Technology Officer at MoneyGram, said operating a validator places the company directly within Solana’s consensus process and allows it to help secure the network at the protocol level.

“We help run the rails we move money on,” Tuttle said, adding that MoneyGram is also developing products intended to support money movement across different forms of value.

Sheraz Shere, General Manager of Payments and Commerce at the Solana Foundation, said MoneyGram’s participation demonstrates how organizations involved in global payments are becoming active members of blockchain networks as more payment activity moves onchain.

MoneyGram said it joined the Solana Developer Platform alongside institutions that include Mastercard. The company said the platform provides tools to build and scale compliant financial products on Solana.

Anthony Soohoo, Chairman and CEO of MoneyGram, said blockchain infrastructure has become a core component of the company’s payment systems and that future development efforts will build on that foundation.

The company did not announce any new payment products tied to Solana but said its participation in the network forms part of a long-term effort to support open blockchain infrastructure for global money transfers.

Follows stablecoin and validator expansion

The Solana announcement comes weeks after MoneyGram launched MGUSD, its own U.S. dollar stablecoin, on the Stellar blockchain.

MoneyGram introduced the stablecoin on June 2 through a partnership with Bridge, a Stripe-owned company that serves as the issuer. M0 provides the infrastructure used to mint and burn the token, while Fireblocks supplies custody services.

MGUSD became the latest addition to a blockchain payments strategy that has expanded through partnerships with Stellar, Crossmint, Fireblocks and Kraken. MoneyGram has also introduced stablecoin-based remittance services, crypto-to-cash withdrawals and digital dollar products across multiple markets.

The company previously became an anchor remittance validator on the Tempo blockchain and was named a validator for Midnight, Cardano’s privacy-focused sidechain. Solana now becomes the third blockchain network where MoneyGram operates an official validator.

MoneyGram also worked with Ripple between 2019 and 2021, using RippleNet and XRP-based On-Demand Liquidity products before the partnership ended following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple.