A crypto commentator known as All In Crypto has drawn attention to a report by CGAP examining the use of stablecoins in humanitarian cash transfers, which repeatedly cites tools built on the Stellar and Algorand blockchain networks in real-world aid deployments.

The report's significance extends beyond its stablecoin focus, according to All In Crypto, because CGAP is affiliated with the World Bank and counts major public financial institutions among its members. The paper arrives as the global humanitarian sector—whose annual funding appeals regularly exceed $20 billion—faces widening gaps between needs and available resources, intensifying pressure on agencies to reduce overhead and accelerate disbursement in active crises.

Obstacles in Traditional Aid Delivery

The CGAP report investigates whether stablecoins can assist humanitarian organizations in moving funds across borders in situations where correspondent banking is slow, costly, or entirely unavailable. It identifies several recurring obstacles to aid delivery: high fees, opaque foreign-exchange margins, multi-day settlement delays, and the withdrawal of banks from high-risk jurisdictions. These frictions are especially acute in conflict zones and sanctioned-adjacent economies where de-risking by international banks has sharply reduced the number of willing correspondents over the past decade.

Stellar and Algorand in Practical Aid Implementations

CGAP explains that stablecoins operate on blockchain networks and that the selection of network affects cost, speed, and availability. Stellar is named as an example of a chain on which USDC can operate. The report notes that lower-cost blockchains such as "Stellar or Algorand" are commonly used in humanitarian implementations. Both networks were designed for low-fee, high-throughput payments, a profile that aligns with the small-value, high-volume transfers typical of cash-assistance programs.

One example from Sudan involves the Norwegian Refugee Council using the KoalaPay platform to transfer USDC to local disbursement partners. According to All In Crypto's reading of the report, KoalaPay operates on both Stellar and Base, with local partners converting USDC into Sudanese pounds before delivering funds to recipients.

The report also references a Ukraine program launched in December 2022 that utilized Stellar's Aid Assist platform, MoneyGram, and self-custodied wallets. By its second year, the program had distributed $4.6 million to 2,500 households. The Ukraine deployment stands as one of the more extensively documented large-scale stablecoin aid rollouts to date, combining on-chain settlement with a pre-existing physical cash-network partner.

Algorand (ALGO) appears in an Afghanistan case study involving Mercy Corps and HesabPay. The report describes HesabPay as a digital platform built on Algorand that facilitated the transfer of a local afghani-denominated stablecoin to recipient wallets. Afghanistan presents a particularly constrained banking environment following the 2021 political transition, which severed much of the country's connection to the international financial system.

Lower On-Chain Fees Do Not Eliminate Local Costs

CGAP's more measured conclusion is that while stablecoins can improve cross-border market access and fund traceability, they do not eliminate foreign-exchange, cash-out, and compliance challenges. Even in cases where on-chain transaction fees amount to fractions of a cent, local currency conversion and off-ramp networks remain expensive operational requirements.

The organization also cautions that direct-to-recipient models can shift foreign-exchange risk, cash-out costs, and digital-literacy burdens toward recipients—often those with the fewest alternatives. This caveat is particularly relevant in fragile markets, where merchant acceptance of digital assets and reliable agent networks may be limited. The report suggests that the technology is most effective when paired with established local partners capable of handling last-mile delivery and regulatory compliance.