Stellar makes a move on former Ripple remittance partner MoneyGram

In the latest escalation of a growing rivalry, Stellar Lumens has opened negotiations to purchase MoneyGram – a popular global remittance app formerly partnered with Ripple.

The move follows a major breakthrough in the Ripple (XRP) vs the SEC court case, with the disposition of former SEC Director William Hinman.

Ripple Labs is the former crypto partner of MoneyGram, with the cryptocurrency used to facilitate large-scale remittances among emigrant communities right up until the SEC suspended XRP operations and instigated the highly controversial court case.

Following the accusation that Ripple operated an unregistered illegal securities asset, MoneyGram terminated the partnership.

Many analysts see Stellar negotiating to purchase MoneyGram as an inflammatory move at a crucial point in XRP’s timeline.

Indeed, Stellar Lumens (XLM) was founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb – a co-founder of Ripple – following his tumultuous departure from the XRP project, something which was rumoured to be the result of a serious internal dispute.

The two projects also can’t escape the fact they share very similar use cases.

However, while negotiations have been opened, there is a big question mark over their potential success. After all, many have tried and failed to purchase MoneyGram.

Western Union stalled in a takeover bid last year, and Alibaba was unsuccessful in its $1.2 billion offer in 2017.

Stellar Lumens’ partner in the negotiations – Advent International – may be the key to deal. The international private equity firm has deep pockets, with more than $75 billion in assets under management and a wealth of experience as a buy-out specialist.

A successful negotiation could see the usage of Stellar Lumens sky-rocket.

Stellar Lumens is trading at $0.25 at the time of writing.

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