New operational data highlights the Humanitarian Payments Council’s momentum ahead of its Washington, D.C. summit.
DOVER, DELAWARE, 16 July 2026 // — The Algorand Foundation on July 15 shared new progress from its Humanitarian Payments Council, marking a shift from pilot projects to institutional-scale deployments. Convening today in Washington, D.C. to build on the foundations laid during their September meeting in Berlin, Council members are highlighting a major expansion of blockchain-backed aid delivery in high-stakes environments.
Most notably, according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, it has scaled its use of reloadable cards through HesabPay, the Algorand-powered payments platform, to support more than 625,000 refugee returnees and over 17,500 internally displaced people in Afghanistan, with more than $35 million in assistance. This operational milestone reflects the network’s ability to support large-scale aid disbursement in a live deployment and provide secure, immediate financial empowerment in regions where traditional banking infrastructure is absent or limited.
“Blockchain-powered payment infrastructure that is locally connected, globally compliant, and fully traceable has the potential to strengthen trusted aid delivery. The next step is continued collaboration to expand reliable digital financial ecosystems that can help deliver humanitarian assistance more securely, efficiently, and transparently for donors, regulators, and forcibly displaced people and communities alike,” said Carmen Hett, Corporate Treasurer at UNHCR.
“The progress achieved since our Berlin meeting is clear evidence that tokenized aid is moving from a novelty to a practical, scalable option for global aid delivery, particularly in economically distressed countries where traditional banking infrastructure is virtually nonexistent,” said Matt Keller, Head of Impact at the Algorand Foundation. “By scaling our work with UNHCR and HesabPay to reach over 600,000 returnees in Afghanistan, we are showing the international community that blockchain-based aid can deliver speed, transparency, and cost-efficiency where traditional infrastructure is limited.”
This operational progress serves as the backdrop for the Humanitarian Payments Council meeting taking place this week in Washington, D.C. The event convenes international humanitarian agencies, financial institutions, fintech providers, and policymakers to discuss scalable frameworks for global humanitarian stablecoin deployments.