Three major institutions—MoneyGram (payments infrastructure), Figure (yield-bearing RWAs), and Range (treasury platform)—are now validators on the Stellar Network, marking a shift from application-layer participation to protocol-level security and governance roles. The moves signal institutional confidence in Stellar's readiness for large-scale financial operations.
MoneyGram, operating one of the world's largest payment networks across 200+ territories with nearly $2 billion in weekly stablecoin FX volume, joined as a validator alongside its core business: bridging cash and blockchain through on-off ramps, non-custodial wallets in Colombia and El Salvador, and its own MGUSD stablecoin. Figure, a leading non-bank HELOC originator, issues YLDS—a yield-bearing stablecoin on Stellar—and has chosen Stellar alongside Ethereum and Solana as core deployment chains for its RWA strategy. Range, a treasury and risk platform for companies managing digital assets and stablecoins, enables organizations to apply compliance and operational controls before moving money. Validator participation is notable on Stellar because the protocol offers no staking rewards or emissions—institutions participate purely for governance influence and alignment with network security, a departure from economic incentive structures on other chains.
