Remittances

A Bank of Italy mystery-shopping exercise found that USDC remittances were not systematically cheaper than traditional money transfer options across international corridors. The findings point to exchange fees, foreign exchange spreads and local banking charges as the main costs, rather than blockchain transaction fees.

MoneyGram is deepening its blockchain strategy as it works to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and more transparent. The company is leaning on Stellar, validator roles on Solana and Tempo, and its MGUSD stablecoin to build payments infrastructure that customers may never need to see.

MoneyGram has joined the Solana network as a validator, adding another major payments brand to the blockchain’s security layer. The move comes shortly after the company launched its MGUSD stablecoin on Stellar, signaling a broader push into digital payments.

Ripple has joined Flutterwave’s latest funding round, valuing the African fintech at $3.2 billion. The partnership will bring RLUSD and the XRP Ledger into its payments network to streamline cross-border transfers.