To begin helping displaced Ukrainians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will use the USDC stablecoin using digital wallets on the Stellar ($XLM) network.
The UNHCR has reportedly begun a scheme to utilize the Stellar blockchain to distribute USDC, a stablecoin developed by Circle and Coinbase and backed by U.S. dollars and short-term U.S. Treasury securities, to Ukrainians harmed by Russia’s invasion of the nation.
Then, Ukrainians may convert the cash for euros, dollars, or other currencies through MoneyGram outlets across the globe. There are 4,500 such areas available for usage in Ukraine.
Using USDC on Stellar would expedite the transfer of funds to displaced individuals and reduce the danger of theft or loss while they are on the road. Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR’s representative in Ukraine, said that “time is of the importance in humanitarian intervention” and added:
Since speed is important in humanitarian action, UNHCR has collaborated for years with the technology industry, which has played a significant role in assisting us to innovate in order to provide aid more quickly.
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian government made notable use of cryptocurrency. It received over $100 million in crypto contributions quickly after Russia’s invasion began, and then launched a non-fungible token (NFT) collection to gather further funding.
UNHCR’s initiative is being trialled in the Ukrainian cities of Kiev, Lviv, and Vinnytsia in conjunction with the Stellar Development Foundation. The initiative will expand to more locations in the near future.
To receive money, individuals must download the Vibrant cryptocurrency wallet program. They will get USDC on their accounts, which may afterwards be traded. This project was produced in collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation.
The Stellar Development Foundation is “a non-profit organization created in 2014 to assist the growth and development of the Stellar open-source network.” It teamed with Latin America’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, earlier this year to develop a project that would investigate use cases for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
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