Autor: dot-traders

MoneyGram, one of the world’s largest money transfer services, is preparing for a partnership with Stellar blockchain to allow its users to send and convert stablecoins into fiat currency.

MoneyGram CEO, Alex Holmes, view on the crypto industry was optimistic saying:

“Crypto industry is here to stay and it’s going to be here for a long time despite recent selloffs and volatility.”

MoneyGram to establish a bridge between crypto and fiat

During a recent interview with Bloomberg News, Holmes said that since fiat and crypto are ‘’not really compatible today’’ the company’s main goal is to establish a bridge between them.

Meanwhile, the company offers Bitcoin services to clients and with its partnership with Stellar, it will allow its users to carry out USDC remittances. Additionally, customers can also use the MoneyGram network to cash out their holdings.

Dante Disparte, Circle (the company that issues USDC) CSO, noted that de-pegging will not occur like in TerraUSD since the stablecoin will be fully backed by safe liquid assets.

Dante said:

“We’re not taking the dollar and putting it in the reserves and then lending it out. Instead, the reserves are strictly cash and US Treasuries.”

MoneyGram support for Crypto adoption

Despite the ongoing crypto market crash, Holmes said that he is optimistic about the future of crypto which he sees as a key feature of the financial network saying:

“I think adopting it, bringing it into the mainstream is important.”

Additionally, he addressed El Salvador’s move of making Bitcoin a legal tender as his company continues with the discussions with the authorities to boost the adoption pace:

“If a country like El Salvador is going to make Bitcoin seamless with US dollars in-country, I think that consumers, through MoneyGram, should be able to transfer Bitcoin to El Salvador or transfer dollars and convert them to Bitcoin. If that’s where the world is going, let’s participate in that world, and let’s see how we can help fulfill that opportunity.”

The post MoneyGram to partner with Stellar blockchain for stablecoins remittance appeared first on CoinJournal.

Bank of America doesn’t have plans to dive into offering crypto to its customers, according to the bank’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance at the World Economic Forum (WEF), the BofA CEO responded with a “No” when asked if the bank had any such plans.

According to him, the need to remain within the regulatory bracket that the bank operates in means they cannot engage in crypto.

“The reality is that we can’t do it. By regulations, we’re not really allowed to engage,” he said.

However, he notes that BofA can engage in crypto trading even as its main goal is to look at how to advance the benefits of blockchain technology.

“So, in the trading side we could do it. Our research team writes about it,” he noted. However, they are not looking to offer cryptocurrency accounts for customers.

BofA not missing on crypto opportunity

Moynihan also said that Bank of America does not really feel like they are missing anything so far by not offering crypto to its customers. In his view, the bank already has most of its customers, about 54 million, moving money digitally.

Also, the issues around which cryptocurrencies have pitched a selling point, like faster cross border payments, the banking industry is already working towards ensuring that.

Bank of America’s stance contrasts that of other major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon that have all taken a dive into the crypto sector albeit in different ways. 

Another major player to look the crypto way is Fidelity Investments, which recently announced the addition of Bitcoin to its customers’ 401k accounts.

The post Bank of America is not offering crypto services anytime soon, says CEO appeared first on CoinJournal.