Marshall Islands Rolls Out Universal Basic Income With Crypto Payment Option

The Marshall Islands has launched a nationwide universal basic income (UBI) program that allows citizens to receive payments via cryptocurrency.

Under the initiative, every resident citizen is entitled to quarterly payments of roughly $200, or about $800 annually, as the government seeks to offset rising living costs and slow outward migration, according to a report from The Guardian.

The first payments were distributed in late November, with recipients given the option to receive funds through bank deposits, paper checks, or a government-backed digital wallet that delivers payments on the blockchain.

Marshall Islands Says UBI Aims to Boost Inclusion, Not Replace Work

Finance Minister David Paul said the scheme was designed to ensure broad inclusion rather than replace employment income.

“We the government want to make sure no one is left behind,” Paul told the Guardian, adding that the payments are intended to act as a social safety net and a morale boost rather than a substitute for work.

The Marshall Islands, a Pacific nation of around 42,000 people located between Hawaii and Australia, faces unique economic and geographic challenges.

Many communities are spread across remote atolls, complicating the delivery of public services and financial assistance. Officials say the cryptocurrency option was introduced to help overcome those logistical barriers.

The program is funded through a trust established under a long-standing agreement with the United States, partly aimed at compensating the Marshall Islands for decades of US nuclear testing.

The fund holds more than $1.3 billion in assets, with Washington committed to contributing an additional $500 million through 2027.

Dr. Huy Pham, an associate professor and crypto-fintech lead at RMIT University, said the initiative represents a global first.

“This is the world’s first national rollout of a UBI program,” he said, noting that the use of blockchain technology at a countrywide level is highly unusual.

The crypto payments are made using a US dollar-pegged stablecoin, a choice officials say provides price stability while allowing fast, traceable transfers across hundreds of islands.

Still, uptake of the digital option remains limited. According to the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration, about 60% of the first payments were made via bank deposits, with most of the remainder issued as checks.

Only around a dozen people have opted to receive their UBI through the digital wallet so far.

Sam Altman’s World Aspires to Create a Global UBI Mechanism

Sam Altman’s World, originally launched as Worldcoin, has also positioned its blockchain initiative as a path toward a global UBI mechanism.

The project’s core idea is to verify each person’s unique human identity using biometric scans. The “Orb” device creates a World ID that proves a user is real and not a bot, enabling fair distribution of its native token, WLD.

Verified users receive allocations of WLD, which some view as a form of UBI within the network, aimed at expanding financial inclusion and economic participation worldwide.

World also launched World Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, last year. The network serves its 15 million verified users with a “World ID” obtained via iris scanning.

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