Rumor: Ripple Acquires MoneyGram

[Magician]

Maybe it’s a rumor, or possibly its deal recently finalized and is waiting to be shared with the general public. But, CryptHawk, a Twitter user, seems to have all the details already. In a tweet, CryptHawk noted:

“Seems like it’s out! Ripple acquired MoneyGram leading to a huge access/deal with Walmart! More to come, believe me.”

Unfortunately, without official communication from MoneyGram or Ripple, it is hard to “believe” the tweet. However, Ripple and MoneyGram have a history.

Ripple and MoneyGram Partnership

In January 2018, the two firms entered into a partnership to modernize payments. As part of the partnership, MoneyGram, one of the largest money transfer companies in the world, would pilot XRP in their payment flows. Additionally, MoneyGram would be integrated into one of Ripple’s products; xVia.
According to Ripple:

“MoneyGram will pilot the use of XRP, the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, in payment flows through xRapid, Ripple’s solution for on-demand liquidity.”

Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, said:

“We are excited about this pilot and long-term strategic partnership with MoneyGram. By using a digital asset like XRP that settles in three seconds or less, they can now move money as quickly as information.”

The XRP Community Is Divided

Since the partnership happened, it has been a quiet encounter between the two companies. However, on June 5, the crypto community on social media contributed to the possibility that Ripple may have acquired MoneyGram. On the official XRP chat, the XRP community was not buying any section of the rumor, “It was funny while it lasted.”

Meanwhile, on Twitter, the XRP community was a bit positive about the acquisition. For example, Kieran Kelly asked, “Is this true as I haven’t seen an official statement from anyone?” In response, BankXRP, a Twitter user, said “Nothing official yet. Just a rumor we all hope is true.”

Ripple Can’t Acquire MoneyGram

Notably, in between the discussion, something interesting cropped up. It would be a setback to the adoption of XRP if Ripple acquired MoneyGram. A concerned fan aired his two cents saying:

“Makes little sense for them to do so. If they did, they would be entering into competition with every other cross border remittance/transfer company. I.e., their entire client base…. Which goes against a lot of what they stand for as they have openly and often stated they want to work with the system – not destroy it.”

make little sense for them to do so. If they did, they would be entering into competition with every other cross border remittence/transfer company.

i.e: their entire client base.

I call BS. Would hazard a guess its more rumour and hopium.

Juist another day on crypto twitter.

— Fazzyfocus (@fazzyfocus) June 5, 2019

American Express Joins xCurrent

Apart from the rumors, it has been confirmed that American Express, a financial services company, has partnered with Ripple.

American Express Just Confirmed Its Use of Ripple's xCurrent https://t.co/BA1doS9fTR

— Michael (@val5linx) June 5, 2019

Colin O’Flaherty, VP, American Express, confirmed that the company would be utilizing xCurrent, one of Ripple’s products, to facilitate the movement of funds around the world. The VP noted that by utilizing xCurrent, American Express would be able to facilitate “point-to-point conversations between the sender and the receiver of funds.” The financial services company is keen to deepen its reach in the United States, British, and Chinese markets.

To enter the Chinese market, America Express works closely with LianLian, a reputable financial institution in China. As such, American Express has been appointed as the official card payments processor further opening up its reach in the growing e-commerce space in China.

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