During the early days of Ripple when ODL (on-demand liquidity) was called xRapid, Ripple was pushing hard to find a client they could call “the one.” A client that could help them spearhead XRP into the mainstream markets for cross-border payments. It was tough going there for a while, but due to their persistence Ripple struck a deal with MoneyGram. This was originally massive news of course. Well due to this SEC news, we are having to go back and review what partners are jumping ship and which are holding fast – MoneyGram being the first to review.
MoneyGram did release a public statement regarding the SEC filing and their view, which you can read in full here. For those of you that want the quick summary, this one quote sums it up very nicely:
The Company has not currently been notified or been made aware of any negative impact to its commercial agreement with Ripple but will continue to monitor for any potential impact as developments in the lawsuit evolve. MoneyGram has had a commercial agreement with Ripple since June 2019; this agreement represents the use of Ripple’s foreign exchange (FX) blockchain trading platform (ODL) for the purchase or sale of four currencies. MoneyGram has continued to utilize its other traditional FX trading counterparties throughout the term of the agreement with Ripple, and is not dependent on the Ripple platform to accomplish its FX trading needs.
The most important things to understand here is that MoneyGram has been using XRP in such a fashion to keep the actions outside the scope of the SEC and also this lawsuit. For the time being, they are not suspending their service with Ripple or XRP whatsoever. They are simply pressing forward with a cautionary mindset, rightfully so. I don’t think MoneyGram is keen on leaving the partnership with Ripple, even if things get tougher.
By partnering with Ripple, their stocks have had a significant increase in value. With the use of Ripple’s ODL (on-demand liquidity) product, they have a service that offers a massive competitive edge against, Western Union – their largest competitor. Both of these factors have totally transformed MoneyGram, which were originally debt covered and bleeding money at unacceptable rates.
MoneyGram has insulated itself very well and seems to be prepared to weather the SEC storm and continue its powerful partnership with Ripple and XRP (ODL).
