USDC: The World’s Digital Dollar
Blockchains and USDC make it possible to safely send dollars directly over the internet instead of relying on patchwork, decades old payments infrastructure that leaves too many behind.
Blockchain technology enables the near-instant and low-cost transfer of USDC. Since USDC is built with open-source technology, it is easy for organizations and entrepreneurs to build new apps and digital wallets for sending and storing these digital dollars. This technology also provides program administrators with increased, real-time transparency into fund flows. This can help reduce the waste and misuse that occurs when cash-based aid is intercepted and a share is siphoned off before it reaches the intended beneficiaries.
Making an Impact Globally
Governments, global aid agencies and entrepreneurs are collaborating to create smarter, more powerful pathways to deliver humanitarian aid with USDC.
- Delivering portable dollars for Ukrainian refugees:
As part of its humanitarian cash programs, in December 2022, UNHCR and Circle launched a program to distribute borderless digital dollars in the form of USDC to a group of people displaced by the war in Ukraine. This money is transferred via the Stellar blockchain directly into the recipient’s digital wallet, which can be accessed almost instantly via a digital wallet on their own smartphone, with fully integrated encashment solutions and in compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Creating a Lifeline for Venezuelan Healthcare Workers
Circle worked closely with the US government, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – led at the time by President-elect Guaido – and Airtm to create Health Heroes, a program that distributes USDC to local healthcare workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. These funds had been seized by the U.S. government from the Maduro regime, and were able to be redirected to pay for medicine and other critical goods and services. Airtm’s virtual card enabled beneficiaries to spend USDC in the local economy.
The USDC Ecosystem
Entrepreneurs around the world are turning to digital dollars and open source software to build the next generation of humanitarian aid services. Circle fosters this entrepreneurial community through Unlocking Impact, a series of pitch competitions that bring together the humanitarian, corporate and tech sectors to devise new ways to use USDC to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).