The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and MoneyGram, one of the world’s leading global payment networks, have expanded their partnership will last for many years, with the next phase targeting Latin America, a region where millions of families depend on cross-border remittances as their main source of financial survival.
The announcement, made on April 22, 2026, at Stellar House in Mexico, marks more than five years of cooperation between the two organizations. Since their first partnership in 2021, MoneyGram and SDF have built what they call the world’s largest digital asset on-boarding platform, launched the MoneyGram Ramps API for third-party developers, and integrated stablecoin balances directly into the MoneyGram app. The latest expansion signals a commitment to scaling this infrastructure well beyond its current scope.
Latin America takes center stage
According to the official press release, the modern phase of the partnership expands the utility of stablecoins in Latin America, a region long under-resourced with time-honored financial infrastructure. MoneyGram stablecoin balance – powered by Stellar, Crossmint and USDC Circle – is now available in Colombia, where it has gained significant popularity since launch. The service has now expanded to El Salvador, with additional markets expected in Central and South America in 2026. Global expansion outside the region is also planned.
For users in these markets, the service fills a persistent gap. Customers can instantly receive U.S. dollar-denominated balance funds, hold stable digital dollars, and withdraw funds at nearly 500,000 MoneyGram retail locations in over 200 countries and territories – a physical network that most pure blockchain solutions cannot match.
Anthony Soohoo, president and CEO of MoneyGram, noted in a press release that the company is focused on building an open payments network that operates on both fiat and stablecoin rails. Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of SDF, described the combination of Stellar’s blockchain infrastructure and MoneyGram’s global reach as the foundation needed to augment access and lower the cost of cross-border payments at scale.
An expanding stellar ecosystem
The MoneyGram Partnership does not stand alone. According to a post by @StellarOrg on X, the Stellar network is gaining significant ecosystem momentum as it enters this phase of expansion. SDF’s 2026 strategy focuses on scaling what is already in place, strengthening proven infrastructure and directing investment to areas where the network needs to be prepared for increased demand.
This lively is constantly growing. The Stellar network crossed the $1 billion mark in real assets (RWA) in early 2026, with business spanning tokenized bonds, institutional financial products, and modern partner integrations across multiple sectors.
The network design – optimized for payment applications with low fees and near-instant settlement – continues to attract institutional developers looking for infrastructure built for real-world capacity rather than speculative activity.
Implications for Ripple’s competitor
The expanded MoneyGram partnership could represent a critical moment for the Stellar ecosystem as the network enters high-volume remittance corridors where transaction demand can translate directly into network activity.
The Latin American rollout, with Colombia and El Salvador as initial benchmarks, provides a concrete testbed to see whether Stellar’s infrastructure can deliver on the promise of financial inclusion at scale and whether the tool will ultimately see broader demand for XLM.
At the time of writing, XLM is trading around $0.26 and holding relatively steady as the ecosystem awaits a broader market reaction to news of the partnership’s expansion.
XLM's price moving sideways on the daily chart. Source: XLMUSD on Tradingview
Cover image from ChatGPT, XLMUSD chart from Tradingview
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