The philanthropic arm of Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has awarded its first international grant to the United Nations' Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions (DHoTS). The announcement was made at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos. The funding aims to support the UN's efforts to integrate blockchain-based financial infrastructure, specifically regulated stablecoins, into its global humanitarian aid payment systems, which currently handle roughly $38 billion annually.
The grant builds upon a successful 2022 pilot collaboration between Circle, UNHCR, and DHoTS that delivered USDC payments to displaced Ukrainians. That pilot demonstrated reduced transfer delays, lower costs, and maintained strong compliance controls. The new initiative will support DHoTS in deploying digital payment technologies to significantly speed up cross-border transfers, enhance transparency, and enable secure, real-time access to financial markets.
Key objectives include delivering faster cross-border transfers, seamless local currency conversions, improved transparency, programmable payments to reduce manual work, and broader upgrades to core UN financial systems. UN Development Programme administrator Alexander De Croo emphasized that using stablecoins would allow the UN to "get more value from each dollar" amid budget constraints.
Elisabeth Carpenter, Chief Strategic Engagement Officer at Circle and Founding Chair of Circle Foundation, stated, "Modern humanitarian finance needs modern infrastructure. By helping DHoTS integrate digital financial infrastructure, including regulated stablecoins with embedded regulatory financial risk management, compliance, and integrated AI-enabled controls, we can help make aid faster, more transparent, and more accountable across the entire UN system."
The news coincides with a broader global shift towards stablecoin adoption. Reports indicate stablecoin payment flows could grow at an 81% annual rate, reaching $56.6 trillion by 2030. Separately, Hong Kong announced at the WEF that it would grant its first set of licenses to stablecoin providers in Q1 2026, under a new regulatory framework that took effect in August 2025.
