Key Takeaways
Moneygram launched Ramps on Solana on Aug. 11, with Rift as its first wallet integration.Moneygram Ramps offers cash withdrawals in more than 170 countries and territories.Solana developers can integrate Moneygram Ramps as adoption expands beyond 1 wallet.
Rift is the first Solana wallet to integrate the service, Moneygram explained on Tuesday. The move expands Ramps across multiple blockchain ecosystems as the payments company pushes beyond its traditional money-transfer business and deeper into digital assets.
Moneygram Opens Its Cash Network to Solana
Moneygram Ramps acts as a bridge between traditional money and cryptocurrency. Users can deposit cash and receive digital assets, or convert supported digital assets back into local currency for withdrawal through Moneygram’s network.
The service supports cash deposits in more than 25 countries and cash withdrawals in more than 170 countries and territories. That reach could give Solana developers a way to connect blockchain applications with physical cash without separately building banking relationships and payment infrastructure in each market.
For consumers, the practical benefit is straightforward. Cryptocurrency held inside a compatible Solana wallet can become easier to convert into spendable local currency, while people using cash can gain another route into digital assets.
Developers Get a Shortcut to Cash and Crypto
Moneygram is pitching Ramps as infrastructure developers can add through an application programming interface, or API, which lets two pieces of software communicate. The company provides credentials, testing tools, documentation, and software development kits designed to shorten the integration process.
The payments giant has steadily been moving into the crypto industry for quite some time now. Ramps is also being added to the Solana Developer Platform’s payments module. That gives developers building applications on Solana another ready-made payment option instead of requiring them to construct their own cash-to-crypto system.
“The future of payments is built on access,” Moneygram Chairman and CEO Anthony Soohoo said. He said each additional platform connected to Ramps extends the reach and value of the company’s payments network.
Rift Becomes Solana’s First Ramps Wallet
Rift will serve as the first test of that model on the Solana (SOL) network. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered trading platform offers access to equities, commodities, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange markets, along with market data and trading signals.
The integration also fits a broader push by payments companies and blockchain developers to make digital assets more useful outside cryptocurrency markets. Stablecoins, which are digital tokens designed to maintain a steady value against assets such as the U.S. dollar, increasingly depend on reliable ways for users to move between blockchain-based money and traditional currencies.
Moneygram brings a sizable physical network to that challenge. The company says it serves more than 60 million customers through nearly half a million retail locations, alongside its digital payment channels.
Solana Launch Sets Up Moneygram’s Next Expansion
Solana Foundation President Lily Liu said connecting the blockchain ecosystem with Moneygram could help developers build financial applications with real-world uses and broader global reach.
The next test will be whether more Solana wallets, exchanges and applications adopt Ramps after Rift. Moneygram’s broader multichain strategy will also bear watching as the company works to connect its established cash network with more blockchain platforms and digital financial services.
