The Republic of the Marshall Islands has just completed what officials are calling the world’s first on-chain disbursement of universal basic income, using a digitally native sovereign bond on the Stellar blockchain.
The rollout is part of the country’s national UBI program, ENRA, and replaces quarterly physical cash deliveries with direct digital transfers to eligible citizens dispersed across the archipelago. The multimillion-dollar initiative was built in partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) and infrastructure provider Crossmint.
At the center of the program is USDM1, a U.S. dollar‑denominated sovereign bond that is fully backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills. USDM1 is issued under New York law using a Brady‑bond structure, the Finance Ministry told CoinDesk, and the Treasury collateral is held by an independent trustee — making redemption rights fixed, unconditional and legally enforceable.
Distribution is handled on Stellar via the Stellar Disbursement Platform and a purpose-built mobile wallet app called Lomalo, developed by Crossmint. The Lomalo app lets recipients receive funds instantly to Crossmint wallets on the Stellar network, removing the logistical hurdles of handing out cash across widely spaced islands.
“USDM1 is issued under New York law using a time‑tested Brady‑bond structure that has underpinned sovereign finance for decades,” a Finance Ministry spokesperson said. “Its foundation is not regulatory discretion or policy preference, but settled law.” The government also stressed that ENRA is a fiscal distribution program—not a currency initiative—and that every USDM1 unit is issued one-to-one against short-dated U.S. Treasuries held in trust and legally segregated at all times.
SDF CEO Denelle Dixon framed the rollout as a practical example of blockchain adoption: the program “enables everyday financial access where it was previously lacking,” she said.
Officials say the project was designed specifically to address the Marshall Islands’ unique challenges of distance, dispersion and limited physical infrastructure. A white paper released alongside the launch lays out the broader policy and financial framework underpinning USDM1.
The initiative marks a notable experiment in combining sovereign finance, on‑chain settlement and real-world social policy — a model other small and remote jurisdictions may watch closely as blockchain-based public payments move from pilot projects to production.
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