MoneyGram has launched MGUSD, a US dollar stablecoin on the Stellar platform, as the money transfer company deepens its commitment to blockchain-based cross-border payments.
Business he said On Tuesday, MGUSD will be integrated with the MoneyGram app via a standalone wallet that will allow users to store dollar-denominated balances, transfer funds globally and convert to local currencies. The stablecoin was initially launched in the US market, with plans to roll it out globally.
MGUSD is supported by a significant infrastructure stack. The tokens are issued by Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin platform, which in February received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a federally licensed national custodian bank.
MGUSD is issued by Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin platform, with mint-and-burn clever contract infrastructure from M0 and wallet infrastructure from Fireblocks.
The launch marks a deeper step in the development of stablecoins in the remittance industry, shifting from settlement and withdrawal partnerships towards app-based digital dollar balances for consumers.
MoneyGram said MGUSD is built on a long-standing partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation. The company described the stablecoin as a deeper dive into issuance, infrastructure sustainability and broader network usability.
The cost of remittances is driving the online push
The launch comes as money transfer companies increasingly test blockchain infrastructure for cross-border payments, a sector that remains steep and incapable compared to domestic systems.
Global cost of sending $200 remittances. Source: World Bank
In a 2026 article, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) he said despite modern payment arrangements, cross-border payments remain “more costly, less accessible, slower and less transparent” than domestic payments. Cross-border retail payments can also take several days and transparency may be narrow.
Related: Western Union partners with Crossmint to support the USDPT stablecoin on the Solana platform
World Bank data showed that sending $200 abroad in the third quarter of 2025 cost an average of 6.36%, meaning fees and currency margins took up about $12.72 of a $200 transfer. This is more than double the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of 3%.
Stablecoin transfers can reduce the blockchain-based settlement component of payments to a fraction of a cent, although users can still pay for on- and off-ramp usage, currency spreads, and local withdrawal fees. Stellar Development Documentation says the minimum network fee is 100 stroops, or 0.00001 XLM (approximately $0.000002) per operation.
Stablecoins have also become a enormous enough market to attract the attention of payment companies. DefiLamy data can be seen that the total market capitalization of stablecoins is approximately $320 billion, while Citi forecast in September 2025 that stablecoin issuance may reception base case – $1.9 trillion by 2030
Stablecoin market capitalization. source: DefiLlama
This cost gap and the growth of stablecoins lend a hand explain why money transfer companies are testing stablecoin infrastructure. On May 5, MoneyGram partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to allow users to convert cryptocurrencies into cash with the option of receiving them in 100 countries. On May 20, the company partnered with Stripe-incubated blockchain Tempo to support stablecoin settlements and lend a hand validate remittance transactions.
Its business rival, Western Union, has also entered stablecoins. On May 5, the company began rolling out its USDPT stablecoin on Solana, initially in Bolivia and the Philippines, with plans to expand to over 40 countries in 2026.
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