Circle Foundation announced two separate grants on September 25 to help the United Nations Development Programme and World Food Programme test digital payments for development work and humanitarian aid. According to the foundation's announcement, the funding comes from an equity commitment by U.S.-listed Circle Internet Group, which supports the foundation through approximately 1% of its equity. The grants will help examine whether digital payments, including regulated payment stablecoins, can deliver funds to recipients faster and at lower cost. As Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Strategic Engagement Officer at Circle and Founding Chair of Circle Foundation, stated: "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."
UNDP will establish and operate a Digital Asset Innovation Pool under the grant to help country offices use regulated payment stablecoins where they suit development programs. The work builds on digital payment solutions piloted through UNDP's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Blockchain Accelerator, a global initiative led by the Alternative Finance Lab that develops and scales practical solutions using blockchain, AI and other emerging technologies to advance the SDGs. The pilots tested digital Cash-for-Work payments in Aleppo, Syria; disbursements designed for low-connectivity conditions in Haiti; a remittance-linked community investment model in Guatemala; and mobile wallets connected to existing cash-agent networks in The Gambia. The pool will provide guidance on local rules, day-to-day operations and safeguards for people receiving funds, along with tools to measure payment speed, cost and reach. Earlier pilots in Aleppo, Syria reduced distribution costs from 10% to 2% for a cash-for-work project, while a Haiti pilot maintained payment processing during a cellular network outage. The pool will support payments that are 'faster, more affordable and easier to access,' particularly for people underserved by conventional banking, with Robert Pasicko, Team Lead at UNDP Alternative Finance Lab, noting that "Getting resources to people should not be the most difficult or expensive part of delivering a programme."
WFP's grant will support the payment infrastructure for proposed trials over the next three years, focusing on two to three country corridors linking its payment system with local financial providers. The funding will support the underlying systems that make stablecoin adoption sustainable: governance and risk frameworks, treasury and reconciliation systems, and compliance tools built to hold up across multiple country operations. WFP and its Innovation Accelerator will develop governance and risk rules, treasury and reconciliation systems, and compliance tools that can work across multiple country operations. The testing will produce evidence on payment efficiency, transparency and resilience, with the grant also supporting independent research into costs and stablecoin payment effectiveness. As Bernhard Kowatsch, Director of WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures, explained: "Digital payments have the potential to make humanitarian assistance faster, more efficient, and more resilient, while also fostering greater financial inclusion for the people we serve." The WFP Innovation Accelerator, launched in 2015 and based in Munich, Germany, ran 14 programmes in 2025 addressing social impact and sustainability issues, with its portfolio comprising over 85 innovations and 29 alumni projects reaching 132.5 million individuals across 75 countries.
The two grants follow Circle Foundation's first international award announced in January for the Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions. In 2021, UNHCR launched the shared UN platform to modernize financial operations, with 15 organizations now participating, including UNDP and WFP. Circle's January funding supported work on cross-border transfers, conversion into local currencies and links between financial systems. The foundation also announced its first U.S. grants on September 22, awarding funds to Accion Opportunity Fund and Pacific Community Ventures for lending and data tools serving small businesses. Established by Circle Internet Group in 2025, Circle Foundation is a donor-advised fund managed by Fidelity Charitable that advances financial resilience and inclusion through strategic grantmaking and systems-level investments, seeded by Circle's Pledge 1% equity commitment.
