The Circle Foundation has announced two grant initiatives in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Program (WFP) to modernize digital payments for international development and humanitarian relief. Circle, the company affiliated with the foundation, issues USDC, one of the largest regulated payment stablecoins pegged to the US dollar.

The joint effort will explore how regulated payment stablecoins and digital financial infrastructure can lower costs, reduce delays, and strengthen financial resilience for communities receiving aid in crisis zones. Stablecoin transfers settle on shared digital ledgers that operate around the clock and record every movement of funds on an auditable trail.

Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Strategic Engagement Officer at Circle and Founding of the Circle Foundation, said the need for humanitarian aid continues to grow while resources are stretched thinner than ever.

“If we can help humanitarian and development institutions move value faster, more transparently, and at lower cost, we can ensure more of every aid dollar actually reaches the people who need it,” Carpenter said.

Scaling UNDP Program Delivery

Under the agreement, a grant from the Circle Foundation will fund the establishment of UNDP's new Digital Asset Innovation Pool. The mechanism is designed to help UNDP country offices move beyond localized pilot projects into full-scale program delivery using regulated stablecoins.

The pool builds on trials managed by UNDP's Alternative Finance Lab, which tested blockchain-based payment initiatives including cash-for-work disbursements in Aleppo, Syria; low-connectivity transfers in Haiti; community investments in Guatemala; and mobile wallet integration in The Gambia.

Robert Pasicko, Team Lead at the UNDP Alternative Finance Lab, emphasized that the tool is intended to complement traditional banking systems rather than replace them.

“Getting resources to people should not be the most difficult or expensive part of delivering a program,” Pasicko said. “The Digital Asset Innovation Pool will support UNDP in using digital payments responsibly to make last-mile program payments faster, more affordable and easier to access.”

Supporting WFP Humanitarian Infrastructure

A separate grant awarded to World Food Program USA will assist the WFP and the WFP Innovation Accelerator in constructing internal governance, risk, compliance, and treasury reconciliation frameworks for digital asset distribution.

Over the next three years, the WFP plans to test stablecoin payment corridors across two to three countries, connecting international aid funds directly to local financial service providers and market merchants. The project will also fund independent research to establish the sector's first operational benchmarks for stablecoin speed, efficiency, and cost effectiveness — standardized performance data the sector has not previously had.

“Digital payments have the potential to make humanitarian assistance faster, more efficient, and more resilient,” said Bernhard Kowatsch, Director of the WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures.

The dual initiatives expand upon the Circle Foundation's ongoing involvement with United Nations financial technology programs. The foundation previously backed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions (DHoTS), a shared platform used by 15 UN agencies to streamline cross-border transfers. Whether the payment corridors and pilot-to-scale mechanisms perform beyond trial conditions is the test the initiatives are now designed to run.