MoneyGram Acquires Minority Stake in Bitcoin Kiosk Company Coinme

International money transfer giant MoneyGram has announced that the company has completed a strategic minority investment in Coinme, a major cryptocurrency exchange in the US. MoneyGram said it had purchased an approximate 4 percent stake in Coinme as part of an investment strategy which is a follow up to a May 2021 partnership between the two companies to establish a crypto-to-cash model by building a bridge to connect Bitcoin to local fiat currency. The investment also marks a close for Coinme's Series-A financing round in a bid to propel its international expansion plans towards which, MoneyGram is expected to play a key role.

“At MoneyGram, we proceed to be bullish on the huge alternatives that exist in the ever-growing world of cryptocurrency and our potential to function as a compliant bridge to attach digital belongings to native fiat foreign money,” MoneyGram chairman and CEO Alex Holmes said.

"Our funding in Coinme additional strengthens our partnership and compliments our shared imaginative and prescient to broaden entry to digital belongings and cryptocurrencies," Holmes added.

Back in May 2021, the money transfer company partnered with Coinme to introduce Bitcoin kiosks to select physical MoneyGram kiosk locations in the US, expanding Coinme's reach and making it easier to buy Bitcoin in person across the country.

"Our unique cash-to-Bitcoin offering with Coinme, announced in May 2021, opened our business to a whole new customer segment, and we couldn't be happier with our progress," added Holmes.

In 2020, the kiosk operator had partnered with Coinstar, a collaboration that spurred "strong national momentum and growth" in Coinme's core cryptocurrency business in just a few months, leading to one of the most successful quarters in the business so far.

MoneyGram's investment also arrive after Coinme was selected in November as a Deloitte Fast 500 company and named the fastest-growing company in Washington state and 78th in North America. Founded in 2014, Coinme claims it currently operates in 48 US states.

"With MoneyGram's global network and infrastructure, the company's continued partnership and strategic investment will help us accelerate our growth and international expansion," stated Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist.