Circle Foundation, the philanthropic initiative backed by fintech company Circle Internet Group’s 1% equity commitment and the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has announced its first international grant to support the United Nations’ Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions (DHoTS). Created in 2021 by UNHCR, DHoTS is a shared financial platform intended to streamline monetary transfers across the UN system and reduce dependence on legacy payment rails that can be slow and costly. The hub now includes 15 agencies, including UNDP and the International Organization for Migration, and is positioned as an infrastructure upgrade for a humanitarian aid system that moves roughly $38 billion each year. With humanitarian budgets under pressure, even modest efficiency gains can translate into more aid reaching people sooner.
The grant is intended to help DHoTS expand digital financial infrastructure across participating agencies, including the use of regulated stablecoins, with an emphasis on traceability and accountability. UNHCR’s earlier blockchain-based pilots, including USDC-based aid payouts launched in 2022, are cited as evidence that these tools can move money faster and may reduce program and delivery costs by up to 20% in early use. The near-term focus is operational: enabling near-instant cross-border transfers, smoother conversion into local currencies through integrations with banks and mobile-money providers, and more automated disbursements that reduce manual steps and reporting burden.