# Circle Foundation Funds Stablecoin Payment Programs at UNDP and WFP

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/25116
Published: 2026-09-29T01:16:48.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-29T01:16:48.000Z
Section: Business

> The grants will support regulated payment infrastructure and WFP tests in two to three countries over the next three years.

Circle Foundation is funding two initiatives aimed at testing regulated stablecoins and other digital-payment infrastructure in international development and humanitarian aid programs.

The foundation said Sept. 25 that one grant will help the United Nations Development Programme establish a Digital Asset Innovation Pool. The pool is intended to help UNDP country offices move digital-payment projects from isolated pilots into regular program delivery, with guidance on regulation, operations and safeguards for aid recipients.

The second award will help WFP and its Innovation Accelerator build governance, compliance, treasury and reconciliation controls for stablecoin payments.

Over the next three years, WFP expects to trial payment routes in two or three countries. The trials will connect WFP payments with local financial providers and markets while generating data on efficiency, transparency and resilience.

The projects build on earlier UNDP pilots, including cash-for-work payments in Aleppo, Syria, low-connectivity transfers in Haiti, a remittance-linked community investment model in Guatemala and mobile-wallet integration in The Gambia.

The UNDP pool is not intended to replace traditional banking channels. Instead, it will provide an additional option where conventional payment systems create high costs, delays or access barriers.

The initiatives also extend Circle Foundation’s support for the Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions, a UN platform launched in 2021 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The platform brings together 15 organizations, among them UNDP and WFP, to update financial systems used across the participating UN bodies.

The grants do not specify their dollar value, the countries where WFP will conduct its trials or the stablecoin that will be used.