Moneygram rolled out its own stablecoin on Tuesday. MGUSD is a U.S. dollar-pegged token built natively on the Stellar blockchain. It's available right now inside the Moneygram app, giving the company's 60 million users access to a self-custodial wallet for the first time. The token is issued by Bridge, a Stripe company that says MGUSD is designed to comply with the upcoming GENIUS Act stablecoin framework.
Built on Stellar, held in-app
MGUSD runs on Stellar, the same blockchain Moneygram has used for years in its settlement rails. Users don't need a separate wallet or exchange account. The token lives in a self-custodial wallet inside the Moneygram app — meaning users control the private keys, not the company. That's a shift for a remittance platform that traditionally holds funds in its own accounts.
The move puts a dollar stablecoin directly into the hands of Moneygram's global user base. Many of those users are in countries with weak banking infrastructure. For them, a self-custodial dollar token could replace a bank account for savings and transfers.
Bridge and the GENIUS Act
Bridge is the issuer. It's a Stripe subsidiary focused on stablecoin infrastructure. The company describes MGUSD as "GENIUS Act-ready." The GENIUS Act is a U.S. stablecoin bill that's been working its way through Congress. If passed, it would require issuers to hold one-to-one reserves and register with regulators. Bridge's claim is a signal that it wants to be compliant from day one — no waiting around for the law to catch up.
Moneygram didn't say whether MGUSD will be used for remittances immediately, but the logic is there. Sending a dollar-pegged token across Stellar costs fractions of a cent and settles in seconds. For a company that moves billions across borders, that's cheaper than traditional banking rails.
60 million potential users
Not every Moneygram user will use MGUSD. But giving that many people a self-custodial stablecoin wallet is a big step for real-world crypto adoption. Most people still buy crypto on centralized exchanges and leave it there. Moneygram's app is already on millions of phones in emerging markets. If even a fraction of those users start holding MGUSD, that's millions of new self-custodial wallets.
The timing matters. Remittance costs have barely budged in years. Stablecoins are one of the few tools that can cut them. Moneygram is betting that a stablecoin built for its own network will keep users inside its ecosystem — and away from competitors like Western Union or local money transmitters.
MGUSD is live now. Users can download the Moneygram app, set up a wallet, and start using the stablecoin today.
