(Originally published as Five Reasons Why UBI and Cryptocurrency Are a Perfect Fit)
As more people face ongoing instability in housing, work, and healthcare, the conversation around income security is more relevant than ever. Universal or Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) is coming up more often as a possible solution, offering steady support, especially where traditional systems fall short.
Nonprofits are already piloting UBI in refugee camps and underserved communities, where even a modest and consistent income helps people cover basic needs and regain a sense of agency. Some governments are also beginning to explore UBI as a way to simplify fragmented welfare systems.
These early efforts suggest the potential for support systems that are easier to access, less restrictive, and designed to give people more control over their own lives. So, how exactly could that work?
UBI is a mechanism that provides regular cash payments to everyone, regardless of income, employment status, or background. The goal is to ensure a basic level of financial security to cover essential needs like food, rent, or medicine, without having to prove eligibility or fit into narrow categories. UBI can replace or complement other forms of aid, and it can be rolled out nationally or tested in specific contexts, such as post-disaster recovery.
A review by Stanford’s Basic Income Lab of 16 trials found that UBI reduces poverty, improves health and education outcomes, and does not reduce people’s willingness to work, challenging a common assumption that unconditional income discourages employment.
As UBI shifts from theory to practice, blockchain technology is well-positioned to become a part of the delivery infrastructure. Crypto-powered UBI can help make payments faster, reduce overhead, and improve transparency. This article explores how that looks, and how projects like GoodDollar, Circles, and Worldcoin are already putting these ideas into practice.
Blockchain can make Universal Basic Income far more efficient and affordable to deliver. Traditional systems often rely on banks or government agencies, which can introduce delays, fees, and limitations, especially across borders or in underserved areas. Crypto-based UBI runs on peer-to-peer networks that operate 24/7, with minimal fees and no need for banking infrastructure, making it easier to reach people directly and consistently.
One of the largest UBI communities in the world, GoodDollar uses blockchain to deliver daily micro-payments (in G$ tokens) to users worldwide. Since launching on Celo in 2023, it has become one of the network’s most active apps, at times driving nearly half of daily user activity. In just 16 months, over 300,000 people joined, generating more than 24 million transactions. By cutting out banks and traditional infrastructure, GoodDollar shows how crypto can scale direct income quickly and globally.
Smart contracts—self-executing code on the blockchain—allow UBI payments to run automatically. Once set up, they distribute funds securely and on time, without the need for manual processing. This reduces admin costs, prevents delays, and avoids human error.
In Circles UBI, every user can mint their own personal token (CRC) at a fixed rate of one token per hour. This happens continuously through smart contracts. People use these tokens within a trusted network, exchanging value with others who recognize and accept their CRC. The system includes a small decay on unused tokens (called demurrage), which encourages people to spend rather than hoard them.
ImpactMarket (which has since rebranded to Pact Foundation) also used smart contracts in an innovative way. Its Deposit and Donate feature allowed supporters to deposit stablecoins, such as cUSD, into a lending protocol. The interest earned was automatically redirected to fund UBI payments for verified communities. Smart contracts managed the entire process, from deposits to disbursements, so support flowed efficiently, without paperwork or delays.
In many regions, especially where local currencies are unstable, inflation can erode the value of UBI almost as soon as it arrives. Blockchain helps avoid this by enabling payments in stablecoins—crypto assets pegged to strong fiat currencies like the USD or EUR.
One example is the Refugee Integration Organisation pilot in Kenya’s Kakuma camp. In 2021, it ran to deliver daily UBI in cUSD, which was instantly converted into local currency via mobile money. The result: refugees received consistent, inflation-resistant support—even amid volatile exchange rates.
UBI programs benefit from trust, and trust starts with transparency. In Web3, that’s built in with the blockchain recording every transaction publicly, making it easy to track where funds go and how they’re used. This not only keeps community managers accountable but also gives recipients a way to verify their own payments.
ReFi Medellín is currently running a pilot that delivers weekly cCOP payments—a stablecoin version of the Colombian peso on Celo—to 15 local residents, including women from the Amapolas community. All disbursements are tracked through a public dashboard on Dune, offering a clear view of how much has been distributed and where the funds are going.
One of crypto’s biggest contributions to UBI is the potential for shared control. Instead of relying on governments or large institutions, decentralized systems can be designed and governed by the people they serve.
In some UBI pilots, local communities manage their own disbursements, setting parameters and making decisions collectively. Others experiment with decentralized governance, like GoodDAO, which lets GoodDollar stakeholders vote on how the protocol is run. These models create space for participation, not just passive receipt.
Then there’s Worldcoin, which has taken a different path. By linking UBI to biometric identity, it aims to build a global system where anyone can verify personhood and receive a share of a new, global digital currency. The project is controversial, facing privacy concerns and regulatory pushback, but it has brought new urgency to the conversation about how crypto might enable borderless, inclusive economic systems.
Cryptocurrency is starting to play a real role in how UBI gets delivered. Projects across different regions show that it is possible to move money directly to people faster, with lower costs, and with more transparency than traditional systems often allow.
At the same time, these efforts raise important questions about privacy, access, and long-term design. But they also open the door to something new: support systems that aren’t just more efficient, but more participatory, flexible, and shaped by the people they serve.
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