Marshall Islands launches world’s first blockchain-based UBI on Stellar blockchain

Core Insights - The Republic of the Marshall Islands has successfully executed the world's first on-chain disbursement of universal basic income using a digitally native sovereign bond, USDM1, via the Stellar blockchain [1] Group 1: Initiative Overview - The initiative, developed in partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation and Crossmint, is part of RMI's national UBI program known as ENRA, replacing physical cash deliveries with direct digital transfers to eligible citizens [2] - USDM1 is a U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign bond fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills, distributed through the Stellar Disbursement Platform into a custom-built digital wallet app called Lomalo [3] Group 2: Legal and Financial Structure - USDM1 is issued under New York law using a Brady-bond structure, ensuring that U.S. Treasury collateral is held by an independent trustee, outside the control of any government or private issuer [4] - The program is designed to maintain the country's monetary and technological sovereignty, emphasizing that ENRA is a fiscal distribution program rather than a currency initiative [5] Group 3: Implementation and Impact - The rollout of the program was influenced by the Marshall Islands' geography and infrastructure constraints, aiming to provide financial access where it was previously lacking [5] - A white paper released alongside the initiative outlines the broader policy and financial framework for USDM1 [5]