MoneyGram becomes a Solana Validator in Major Blockchain Infrastructure Push

Solana’s red-hot streak of institutional partnerships continues with MoneyGram becoming the latest player to join the network as a validator. MoneyGram joins an exclusive group of financial sector players, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance, as validators on the Solana network.

MoneyGram deepens blockchain infrastructure role on Solana

Payments services firm MoneyGram has announced its new role as a validator on Solana, extending its foray into crypto infrastructure and stablecoins. 

By operating a validator on Solana, MoneyGram becomes directly involved in securing and verifying transactions on the network, elevating the remittance firm as an active participant in the network. MoneyGram will stake SOL and process transaction blocks to secure Solana at the protocol level. 

MoneyGram noted that the decision to become a Solana validator flows from its previous experiments with distributed ledger technology (DLT) and stablecoins. Previously, MoneyGram rolled out its MGUSD stablecoin after years of tinkering with infusing blockchain-based payments into its existing remittances business.

“MoneyGram has spent the past several years integrating blockchain into our payment infrastructure and everything we are building now leverages this foundation,” said MoneyGram CEO Anthony Soohoo.

MoneyGram joins a raft of high-profile financial sector players as validators on Solana. Already, Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Google Cloud operate block-producing validators on the Solana network, continuing a streak of institutional affiliation for the blockchain.

Source: Solana Validators

Alongside the announcement, MoneyGram disclosed that it has joined the Solana Developer Platform, teeing it up to build and scale compliant financial products on Solana. The remittance company revealed that it will lean on Solana’s infrastructure to deepen its stablecoin infrastructure.

“We believe the future of global money movement will be built on open, interoperable stablecoin rails that anyone, anywhere can access,” added Soohoo.

Solana expands institutional and enterprise footprint

Solana has seen major players flock to its ecosystem in recent months, underscoring the network’s institutional capabilities. Hours before the MoneyGram announcement, South Korea’s Toss Bank partnered with Solana for stablecoin remittances, extending the streak of enterprise utility.

Both announcements triggered a small rally for SOL, with the native token trading at $73 at press time. Amid the disclosures, 24-hour trading volumes have surged by nearly 30% to settle at $2.41 billion.

Last week, Moody’s rolled out credit ratings on Solana, putting the network at the forefront of the tokenization race with Ethereum.

Meanwhile, Visa has turned to Solana for stablecoin settlements with institutional trading desks like B2C2 using the network for stablecoin payments. Furthermore, financial heavyweights like BlackRock have since launched tokenized money market funds exceeding $500 million on Solana.