Ripple Completes $50 Million MoneyGram Investment Commitment
- By investing another $20 million into MoneyGram, Ripple has now acquired nearly 10% of the company’s outstanding common stock.
- The two companies entered into a 2-year strategic partnership back in June, with Ripple committing to invest $50 million in total.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, at the Fortune Brainstorm Finance conference. Fortune
Ripple, the company behind the XRP token, has completed its original commitment by investing another $20 million in the remittance platform MoneyGram, the companies announced on 25 November.
According to the press release, Ripple Labs acquired MoneyGram’s equity at $4.10 per share, which is significantly more than its current stock price of around $3 per share.
After the completion of the deal, Ripple now owns 9.95 percent of MoneyGram’s “outstanding common stock”, and 15 percent “on a fully-diluted basis including non-voting warrants held by Ripple”.
With this final investment, Ripple has now completed its $50 million investment commitment, which it made earlier this year. In June, Ripple made an initial investment of $30 million, and entered into a 2 year strategic partnership with MoneyGram, which will see the two companies collaborate on cross-border payments and foreign exchange settlements with digital assets.
Alex Holmes, MoneyGram’s Chairman and CEO, said:
“Partnerships with companies like Ripple support innovation and allow us to invest in creating better customer experiences. I anticipate furthering our growth into new corridors and exploring new products and services.”
The press release further said that MoneyGram intends to use the newly acquired funding to support its operations, in particular the company will expand its use of Ripple’s xRapid payment system, which allows for money to be sent in one currency and instantly settled in the destination currency.
It also stated that MoneyGram has been using XRP to conduct transactions since June, mainly in Europe, Australia and the Philippines.
Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, commented on the partnership:
“Digital assets and blockchain technology have the potential to make a tremendous impact on cross-border payments – MoneyGram and Ripple is an example of that. In June, we announced this partnership, and it’s encouraging to see the rapid growth and benefits come to life.”
- A federal judge ruled that the sale of XRP through exchanges and algorithms did not qualify as selling securities, which could have a major impact on several SEC lawsuits.
- The institutional sale of the token, however, did violate federal securities laws, and the lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple will have to go to trial.
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- These documents are seen as central in Ripple’s battle against the SEC, which in 2020 accused the company of selling its XRP token without registering it as a security.
- The documents in question are internal emails, text messages, and expert reports that followed Hinman’s 2018 speech, in which he said ETH and BTC were not securities.
- The exchange argues that the SEC failed to provide a “fair notice” that selling XRP was illegal, and that it previously made public statements that those transactions were lawful.
- Coinbase also pointed out that the SEC is yet to provide clear guidance to crypto businesses, and that it keeps being inconsistent about its enforcement approach.