Ripple Could Invest Up to $50 Million in MoneyGram in XRP Boosting Deal

Blockchain payments startup Ripple has struck a deal to buy a stake in money transfer giant MoneyGram, the companies announced Monday.

Under the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal and Fortune, Ripple will spend $30 million to buy shares at a price of $4.10 apiece.

In the next two years, MoneyGram has the option to sell an additional $20 million worth of shares to Ripple at the same price.

As noted by the Journal, MoneyGram shares were trading at about $1.45 apiece at the close of day, meaning Ripple's purchase price is close to three times the current market value.

Notably, the deal will also see MoneyGram utilizing the digital token XRP as part of its day-to-day operations by way of Ripple's xRapid transaction product.

MoneyGram already services 200 countries and territories, with roughly $600 billion processed in the global remittance market.

Ripple and MoneyGram anticipate settlement fees dropping from $30 per transaction to "Fractions of a penny," while settlement times are expected to drop from 15-60 minutes to just a few seconds.

In a statement, MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes said "It's imperative that we continue to improve our platform and provide the most effective solution to get funds from point A to point B.".

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse likewise said in a statement that the partnership will allow MoneyGram to "Greatly improve its operations and enable millions of people around the world to benefit from its improved efficiency."

This article has been updated to clarify the price of MoneyGram shares.