International charity organization Oxfam has partnered with Australian tech startup Sempo and blockchain company ConsenSys to test stablecoin Dai’s (DAI) suitability for aid in regions suffering from natural disasters, local news outlet Micky reported on June 17.
The parties launched a philanthropic initiative dubbed UnBlocked Cash with the support of the Australian Government. To test the system, Sempo and Oxfam chose purportedly the world’s most natural disaster-prone country, Vanuatu.
During the trial, 200 residents of the island Efate were given tap and pay cards containing around 400 vatu each ($50 at press time) connected to an Ethereum (ETH) address credited by Oxfam with $50 worth of Dai. 34 local vendors were provided with Android smartphones to be able to accept payments.
Sempo co-founder Nick Williams claimed that this is the first time a non-governmental organization (NGO) has used a stablecoin to provide ain anywhere, and also said that this is not a one-off pilot as the company believes that stablecoins can completely change the way of aid delivery. Sandra Hart, the Unblocked Project lead at Oxfam in Vanuatu, said:
“For the first time ever, thanks to the use of a stablecoin, we now have end-to-end transparency, ensuring that the people who receive funds are the ones that need it. It’s a game changer for Oxfam that ultimately makes our work easier and more effective.”
Last November, Oxfam launched its BlocRice blockchain supply chain solution for rice. BlocRice, which aims to use smart contracts to provide transparency and security between rice growers in Cambodia and purchasers in the Netherlands, has been under development and should purportedly expand to 5,000 farms by 2022.
At press time, Dai — which is pegged to the United States dollar — is ranked 87th on CoinMarketCap’s list of cryptocurrencies. Dai is currently trading at $1, having gained 0.54% over the past day. The stablecoin’s market capitalization is around $85.6 million, while its daily trading volume is around $19.8 million as of press time.
