In this program, GiveDirectly identifies impoverished African villages to give their citizens $30 per month, transferred via mobile money technology, for 3-5 years. For people living on less than $2/day this is a transformational amount.
Global Income Coin’s economic model is to invest its reserve in short-term Treasury bills and give the proceeds away entirely to GiveDirectly.
Their basic income program distributes cash to all people in select villages via mobile money technology. Recipients get $30 per month for 5 years, which, for people living on less than $2/day, is transformational.
GiveDirectly operates mainly in subsaharan Africa, with programs in Yemen and the United States.
We like that they:
Some people hear this idea and think: “there’s no way that can work. You can’t just give money away like that.” But here’s an eye-opener – researchers have found that cash transfers typically reduce spending on “temptation goods" (alcohol, tobacco, etc.) and increase spending on food, savings, investments, and assets.
We believe that the ultimate promise of cryptocurrency is worldwide financial inclusion, and we’re excited to build that. But getting people who live in extreme poverty on crypto payment rails is really hard. Rather than waiting for the future, GiveDirectly allows us to help people today.
For more on Glo's relationship with GiveDirectly, see this twitter thread.