- Stellar Aid Assist is using crypto to give mass aid in the Ukraine War.
- The payment app was designed to be user-friendly for trauma and disaster victims.
The Ukraine War has caused immense suffering, and many people are in desperate need of aid. Stellar Aid Assist is using crypto to give mass aid to those affected by the war. The payment app leverages stablecoins for fast and cheap transfer, making it user-friendly for trauma and disaster victims.
Cash Aid and Digital Cash Transfers
Cash donations are essential to help disaster victims rebuild their lives. Cash aid preserves the agency of choice for recipients, who can decide when and how to spend the money to help them to restart their lives.
Moving physical cash around is difficult and dangerous in many disaster and post-disaster situations. The cash can depreciate in value and can be pilfered by corrupt middlemen. That’s why a number of aid organizations have turned to digital cash transfers to help reduce that risk.
Digital cash transfers need to be transparent, efficient, and cost-effective, and the recipient should not pay for the assistance received.
The Idea: Stellar Aid Assist
Stellar Aid Assist is a disbursement platform developed by the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) to help relief organizations distribute cash aid more efficiently. With input from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), SDF developed and launched Stellar Aid Assist in less than 10 months.
Stellar Aid Assist allows humanitarian organizations to send bulk stablecoin payments, in the form of Circle’s dollar-pegged USD coin (USDC), to recipients in need. Payments through Stellar Aid Assist can be made safely, nearly instantaneously, and with complete transparency on where and when the funds arrived, all without the interference of potentially sticky-fingered middlemen.
It’s also free to use, and an aid organization would have to do approximately 100,000 transactions before seeing a dime in gas fees. The Vibrant wallet used by Stellar Aid Assist is also free, making it user-friendly for trauma and disaster victims.
Benefits of Stellar Aid Assist
Stellar Aid Assist’s platform benefits both the humanitarian aid organizations and the end-users. The end-users get cash quickly and securely without needing a bank account. Unlike donations of local currencies, USDC can serve as a hedge against inflation or local currency devaluation, and it’s protected digitally until the recipients need it.
When they’re ready to cash out, the aid recipients can go to any MoneyGram location in the world and exchange their USDC for the equivalent amount of local currency, either in a physical or digital form.
Conclusion
The payment app is making a difference in the lives of those affected by the Ukraine War. By leveraging stablecoins for fast and cheap transfer, Stellar Aid Assist is providing mass aid that is user-friendly for trauma and disaster victims. The benefits of Stellar Aid Assist extend beyond the humanitarian aid organizations to the end-users who get cash quickly and securely without needing a bank account.
