UNDP And Stellar Foundation Scale Blockchain Payments To Global Country Offices

From Pilot to Permanent Infrastructure

@UNDPEurasia, @UNDP_AltFinLab, and @StellarOrg have signed a new agreement to move their blockchain payments programme from a series of field pilots into standing institutional infrastructure. The deal, announced on 30 June 2026 in Istanbul, gives UNDP country offices the governance framework and technical capability to use blockchain-based digital payments as a routine part of programme delivery.

The decision follows sixteen months of joint work. The two partners researched digital payment use across seventeen countries, consulted UNDP country offices and stakeholders, and ran live pilots in Haiti, Syria, Kenya, Guatemala, and The Gambia, with two further prototypes developed in Colombia and Papua New Guinea. In parallel, the SDG Blockchain Accelerator, strategically led by UNDP AltFinLab, matched a cohort of payment solutions built on the Stellar network with real UNDP programme challenges, producing a portfolio of graduated solutions with documented pathways to scale.

Aleppo Pilot Sets the Benchmark

The most closely watched deployment was in Aleppo. UNDP delivered Cash for Work stipends to beneficiaries digitally and recorded every transaction on-chain, reducing the estimated cost of distribution from around 10 percent of funds to just 2 percent per transaction. Payments were completed with a 100 percent success rate in low-connectivity conditions, a result that gave both organisations confidence to push toward a permanent rollout.

The $XLM infrastructure underpinning the programme provides a traceable, on-chain record of every transaction and near-instant settlement, qualities that matter most in fragile and conflict-affected settings where traditional banking systems are unreliable or absent. The collaboration harnesses the Stellar network and open-source tools to enhance access to digital financial services, facilitate transparent and efficient cross-border transactions, and provide low-cost digital payment solutions for humanitarian aid, remittances, and national cash transfer programmes.

The agreement runs through 2027 and will conclude with a consolidated evidence base, a scaling playbook, and a formal handover, so that the capability outlasts the partnership that created it. Candace Kelly, Chief Legal Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation, noted that "these pilots showed what open, public blockchain infrastructure can do when it is built around the realities of the last mile."

The extension deepens a relationship that has been broadening rapidly. UNDP has also launched a Blockchain Advisory Group bringing together 26 organisations, including the Ethereum Foundation, Cardano, and Stellar, to explore how blockchain can improve financial access, digital identity, public services, and climate initiatives worldwide.

Sources:
UNDP Eurasia: UNDP and Stellar Development Foundation extend partnership to scale digital payment solutions
Stellar.org: UNDP and Stellar Development Foundation join forces for financial inclusion
UNDP Eurasia: Digital payments that work under real constraints