MoneyGram launched MGUSD on June 2, placing a new dollar-pegged stablecoin at the center of its global payments network. The token is issued natively on the Stellar blockchain and is built directly into the MoneyGram app through a self-custodial wallet, allowing users to hold a dollar balance, transfer it, and convert it into local currency when needed. The rollout starts in the U.S., with the company planning broader international expansion as it pushes more of its payments infrastructure onto blockchain rails.
Stellar issuance and wallet-level integration
MoneyGram said MGUSD is issued by Bridge, a Stripe company that it described as a regulated issuer prepared for the GENIUS Act framework. M0 provides the smart contract infrastructure used to mint and burn the token, with Stellar serving as the launch chain. Fireblocks wallets hold the assets before they are sent to individual customer wallets embedded inside the MoneyGram app. The setup builds on the stablecoin settlement infrastructure MoneyGram brought in through Fireblocks late last year.
The company is not positioning MGUSD primarily as a tool for crypto-native trading activity. Its stated target is people dealing with inflation, unstable local currencies, or weak access to dependable financial services. For those users, the product offers a dollar-denominated balance available around the clock, with on-demand conversion into local currency. MoneyGram already tested a similar model in Colombia through a USDC-powered app built on Stellar, where self-custodial wallets were used to help recipients limit exposure to peso volatility.
Built for remittance flows rather than token speculation
Chairman and CEO Anthony Soohoo said the stablecoin market has mostly focused on the asset itself, while MoneyGram is taking a different route by starting with distribution and using stablecoin as a base layer for future applications across its global network. That framing puts MGUSD inside a broader payments strategy, not as a standalone token launch.
MoneyGram said it serves more than 60 million active customers across nearly 500,000 retail locations worldwide, and more than 70% of its transactions are now digital. That mix of physical cash access and digital wallet distribution gives MGUSD a ready-made channel at launch.
Five-year Stellar partnership moves deeper into issuance
The launch also extends MoneyGram’s five-year partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation. Earlier work between the two centered on stablecoin-powered money movement; MGUSD pushes that relationship into token issuance, balance infrastructure, and broader ecosystem utility. Chief Product and Technology Officer Luke Tuttle said MoneyGram spent the past year re-architecting issuance, orchestration, and settlement so that a digital dollar could move through its network as naturally as cash moves through its agent system.