160 people in New York are now receiving $12,000 each in crypto through a five-month money transfer program funded with money from Coinbase. The funds did not come directly from the scholarship this year.
Coinbase donated the money to a nonprofit after shutting down its own philanthropic program two years ago, and that nonprofit is now leading the pilot. Payments are made in USDC, a stable currency that tracks the US dollar.
The goal is simple on paper. Transfer real money to real people using crypto rails and watch what happens.
The program started in September and will end in February. Each of the 160 participants began receiving $800 per month in USDC at the start of the pilot.
In addition to these monthly payments, each participant also received a one-time lump sum of $8,000 in November. Once the five months are up, each person will have raised exactly $12,000.
All transfers are done digitally through crypto wallets using USDC as the payment rail.
New York pilot sends money in monthly USDC and large lump sum
The cash transfer trial follows the model of guaranteed basic income programs that already exist in the United States and other countries. These programs send money directly to people without any spending rules.
Payments go to a selected group and not the entire population. Most guaranteed income programs target households whose income is close to the poverty line. This differentiates them from universal basic income, under which everyone in a city or country would receive payments regardless of their income level.
The New York cryptocurrency pilot changed the usual payment model by adding a large upfront payment. Emma Kelsey, head of the New York money transfer project, told Business Insider that the choice to include a lump sum was a result of previous research.
“A lot of research from our international work and in the United States has shown that a lump sum could allow people to invest or do things that might have higher costs, like a security deposit or enrolling in an education or training program,” she said. “But it’s also something that participants told us: it’s a preference.”
Kelsey also highlighted a separate program in Georgia called In Her Hands, run by GiveDirectly. This project also tested larger upfront payments instead of only sending monthly transfers.
“We did a lot of community research and heard from them that this lump sum payment approach might be more attractive to them than a standard recurring payment model,” she said. The New York pilot copied this structure by pairing a stable monthly USDC with a large payout.
GiveDirectly selects South Bronx and East Harlem for crypto payments
GiveDirectly chose to conduct the pilot in New York for several reasons. One factor, according to Kelsey, was local politicians’ support for crypto-based tools. Another factor was the level of need in the target neighborhoods.
The 160 participants were selected from the South Bronx and East Harlem, two areas where household incomes are very low. “We chose New York, specifically the South Bronx and East Harlem, because there are incredibly low-income areas,” she said. “Politicians in the crypto space have also been supportive, making it accessible. It seems like a really natural fit where the need was high, but the ecosystem around crypto also had more support than in other areas.”
The decision to use crypto instead of regular bank transfers also sets this pilot apart from most other guaranteed income tests.
Kelsey said GiveDirectly wanted to see how people reacted to money coming through digital wallets rather than bank accounts. “We’re really interested to see if people use it differently,” she said. “Do they perceive it differently? Is it more or less useful to them?”
Kelsey also said residents in the South Bronx and East Harlem may be more open to using crypto than traditional banking tools. She said some residents already face limits with standard financial services.
“We thought it would be a good opportunity to see if this type of payment arrangement would be viewed favorably,” she said. The pilot will continue sending $800 each month until February, once November’s lump sum has already landed in wallets.
