The addition of the three organizations, which represent global money movement, capital markets and blockchain security infrastructure, is aimed at strengthening the decentralization and resilience of the network”s core infrastructure.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of the Stellar blockchain network, has announced that MoneyGram, Figure Markets and Range will operate Tier 1 validators on the Stellar network. The addition of the three organizations, which represent global money movement, capital markets and blockchain security infrastructure, is aimed at strengthening the decentralization and resilience of the network’s core infrastructure.
Tier 1 validators form the backbone of the Stellar network by operating multiple geographically distributed full validators that participate in the Stellar Consensus Protocol. Under the protocol, validators choose trusted peers within their quorum set to agree on the state of the ledger. These organizations are publicly identifiable and are expected to maintain high standards of uptime, operating the infrastructure to safeguard the security and continuous operation of the network rather than for financial gain.
“What sets Stellar apart is that the controls regulated institutions depend on, like approving, revoking, and freezing assets are enforced by the protocol itself. The Stellar network’s proof-of-agreement consensus lets any institution run a publicly identifiable validator and choose exactly whom to trust, giving risk teams a vetted set of recognizable peers and a multi-year uptime record. Adding world-class institutions and community members like MoneyGram, Figure Markets and Range as validators makes Stellar an even better network for regulated finance to run on.”
– Jose Fernandez da Ponte, President & Chief Growth Officer, Stellar Development Foundation
According to SDF, expanding the number of Tier 1 organizations increases the network’s fault tolerance, enabling it to continue operating even if several organizations experience simultaneous outages. It also broadens the diversity of industries, geographies and infrastructure supporting network consensus.
“The organizations stepping up to run Tier 1 validators are not passive participants, they are companies that have built real businesses on Stellar and have a direct stake in the network’s long-term security and neutrality. That’s exactly what you want from the infrastructure layer of a global financial network.”
– Justin Rice, Vice President of Ecosystem Growth, Stellar Development Foundation
MoneyGram, which has partnered with Stellar since 2021, said the move deepens its commitment to the blockchain ecosystem. Stellar was the first blockchain to support the MoneyGram Ramps infrastructure, enabling cash on- and off-ramps for digital assets at scale, and also powers MoneyGram’s consumer balance feature, which provides customers with a stable digital dollar balance connected to its global money movement network.
“MoneyGram and Stellar are building the next generation of money movement. Together, we’re combining MoneyGram’s trusted global brand, payments expertise and compliance leadership with Stellar’s fast, low-cost settlement network. Becoming a Stellar validator deepens our commitment to the ecosystem and reinforces our belief that the future of payments will be built on open, interoperable infrastructure.”
– Luke Tuttle, Chief Product and Technology Officer, MoneyGram
Figure Markets, a blockchain-native exchange and marketplace founded by the team behind Figure Technology Solutions, said its role as a validator aligns with its growing presence on the network through regulated digital asset products.
“Stellar is a tight-knit ecosystem, one where regulated asset and stablecoin issuers have found measured success. Figure has an important role to play among all market participants on Stellar. Issuing $YLDS and serving as a T1 Validator are key steps toward solidifying our position as one of the network’s major contributors.”
– Karl Samsen, Principal, $YLDS, Figure
Range, which provides infrastructure for companies operating across stablecoins, digital assets and fiat payment rails and secures more than $30 billion in customer assets, said joining the validator network is a natural extension of its security expertise.
“Range spends every day securing the infrastructure that moves stablecoins and fiat for our customers, so helping secure Stellar itself is a natural next step. Running Tier 1 validators lets us bring that security and monitoring expertise directly to the consensus layer of a network built for regulated finance. The institutions settling real money on Stellar should know the organizations underpinning it have a direct stake in keeping it safe.”
– Andres Monteoliva, CEO, Range
To qualify as a Tier 1 validator, organizations must operate three geographically dispersed full validators that publish complete history archives, maintain at least 99.9% uptime, complete SEP-1 and SEP-20 self-verification to enable transparent identification of their nodes, and actively coordinate with the existing Tier 1 community on network upgrades and operations. The new validators are expected to be fully integrated into Stellar’s quorum configuration by mid-August.
