MoneyGram Allows Retail Bitcoin Purchases in the U.S.

Cryptocurrency adoption among mainstream payment services continues to grow as MoneyGram joins the list.

In a press release published on Wednesday, the global payments service announced a partnership with cryptocurrency exchange and Bitcoin (BTC) ATM operator Coinme Inc. to allow U.S. customers to withdraw their crypto holdings in cash at its retail locations across the country.

As part of the announcement, MoneyGram also revealed that customers will be able to purchase BTC and cryptocurrencies, expanding the existing crypto-to-cash model pioneered by nearly 20,000 crypto ATMs worldwide.

Commenting on the development, MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes said:

“This innovative partnership opens our business to a whole new customer base as we are the first to pioneer the crypto-to-cash model by building a bridge with Coinme to connect Bitcoin to local fiat currencies.”

For MoneyGram, the ability to purchase Bitcoin through its physical retail stores could be a significant development for first-time cryptocurrency users who may be intimidated by the thought of interacting with online cryptocurrency exchanges.

The MoneyGram announcement may also again signal the potential for a unified money transmission licensing regime, especially for cryptocurrencies.

As early as September 2020, 48 US states agreed to establish a single regulatory framework for remittances, a move that has significant implications for 78 fintech companies such as MoneyGram with annual revenues of more than $1 trillion.

MoneyGram’s first physical bitcoin purchases across the U.S. are yet another example of fintech and payment services companies slowly becoming more accustomed to cryptocurrencies. From stables like PayPal to Visa and Mastercard, the debut of various crypto-related features has become a norm across the industry.

As early as March, PayPal began allowing U.S. customers to use Bitcoin for payments at millions of online merchants on the platform. In April, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said the company's cryptocurrency transaction volume is expected to reach $200 million within a few months.