Crypto Exchanges

Story: Kraken Users Can Now Pull Cash from Crypto in Over 100 Countries via Moneygram

By Bruce Buterin

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Why Cash Still Matters. Digital assets are great until you need to pay rent or buy groceries.

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What This Means for Adoption. Crypto adoption has always hit a wall when it comes to everyday usability.

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Bridging Two Worlds. The crypto industry talks a lot about "financial inclusion" and "banking the unbanked.

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Kraken teamed up with Moneygram. The deal lets crypto holders turn their digital coins into physical cash across more than 100 countries, using Moneygram's sprawling network of…

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The partnership went live without much fanfare, but the mechanics are straightforward. Someone holding Bitcoin or Ethereum on Kraken can initiate a withdrawal, convert it to…

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Digital assets are great until you need to pay rent or buy groceries. And in a lot of markets, cash is still king. Businesses don't take Bitcoin.

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Moneygram's service is licensed and monitored in most jurisdictions where it operates. That's important because it means the cash pickup process isn't some gray-market…

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The rollout covers more than 100 countries. Exact numbers on how many Moneygram locations are involved weren't shared, but the company operates tens of thousands of agent…

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Crypto adoption has always hit a wall when it comes to everyday usability. People buy coins, hold them, maybe trade them. But spending them? That's harder.

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This Kraken-Moneygram tie-up changes that dynamic. It gives holders an exit ramp that doesn't require a bank account or a credit card or even a smartphone with a working internet…

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Related: Bitmine Stakes $451M More ETH, Now Controls 3.7% of Total Supply

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The service also adds liquidity to the crypto market in a roundabout way. If people know they can cash out easily, they might be more willing to hold crypto in the first place.

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Kraken didn't say how much volume they expect from this partnership or how many users have already tried it.

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The crypto industry talks a lot about "financial inclusion" and "banking the unbanked." Sometimes that's just marketing fluff.

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Moneygram's network is old-school infrastructure—physical locations, paper receipts, cash in hand.

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