Circle Foundation is putting Circle Internet Group’s stablecoin infrastructure behind two of the United Nations’ largest aid agencies, announcing support on September 25 for the United Nations Development Programme and the World Food Programme to move humanitarian and development payments onto regulated stablecoin rails.
The philanthropic arm of NYSE-listed Circle Internet Group said the commitments are designed to replace slow and costly correspondent-banking systems with faster, more transparent and lower-cost digital payment flows. Elisabeth Carpenter, Circle’s chief strategic engagement officer, framed the effort as improving aid delivery: '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.'
No dollar figure was disclosed for either grant, making the announcement a matter of scope rather than size. The UNDP will create a Digital Asset Innovation Pool to help country offices implement regulated payment stablecoins with local regulatory guidance, operational support, safeguards for recipients and tools to measure payment time, cost and reach. Robert Pasicko of UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab said: 'Getting resources to people should not be the most difficult or expensive part of delivering a programme.'
The WFP grant, made through World Food Program USA, will fund governance and risk frameworks, treasury and reconciliation systems, and compliance tools. Over the next three years, WFP and its Innovation Accelerator plan to test two to three country corridors connecting its payment systems with local financial providers and mobile-money services, while research measures cost, speed, efficiency and resilience. Bernhard Kowatsch, director of the WFP Global Accelerator and Ventures, said the funding lets WFP explore regulated stablecoin payments in 'real-world contexts.'
The work builds on earlier UNDP pilots under the SDG Blockchain Accelerator in Aleppo, Syria, Haiti, Guatemala and The Gambia. Those tests covered cash-for-work payments, remittances, mobile wallets and disbursements under weak connectivity; UNDP reported that one Syria pilot cut distribution costs from 10% to 2%, and a Haiti pilot continued processing payments during a cellular network outage. The new grants aim to turn such isolated pilots into routine delivery.
The initiative also widens USDC corridor infrastructure. Circle has spent the year connecting USDC to commercial cross-border rails through Mastercard, Finastra and the acquisition of Tazapay, and the foundation’s aid work extends that footprint into humanitarian corridors. The announcement follows Circle Foundation’s first international grant in January 2026, which backed a UNHCR treasury platform involving 15 UN organizations. The foundation is a donor-advised fund managed by Fidelity Charitable, seeded by Circle’s pledge of about 1% of its equity.
The test will ultimately be judged by live corridors, disclosed cost savings and hard numbers on speed, not by the announcement alone.
