GiveDirectly and Coinbase Paid 160 Young New Yorkers $12,000 Each in USDC

In the six-month South Bronx and Harlem pilot, average savings rose from $320 to $1,488, but fewer recipients felt in control of their life decisions.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- GiveDirectly, a U.S. nonprofit that sends cash directly to people living in poverty, published results on September 17, 2026 from Future First New York, a pilot run with Coinbase. It paid 160 young adults in the South Bronx and Harlem $12,000 each over six months in USDC, a stablecoin pegged one-to-one to the U.S. dollar. Payments included an $8,000 lump sum, one of the largest single cash payments in a U.S. cash program to date. It was GiveDirectly's first U.S. pilot to deliver cash in cryptocurrency.

Key facts
Who and where: 160 adults ages 18 to 30 in and around New York's 15th Congressional District, where nearly a third of residents live below the U.S. poverty line. They enrolled through youth mentorship organizations they already trusted.
How it was paid: USDC through Coinbase, on Base, Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain. Every payment was delivered, fees were under 1% of transfers, and 89% of recipients said they felt safe getting money this way.
Savings: average savings rose from $320 to $1,488, and the share with more than $500 saved rose from 8% to 33%.
Rent and bills: the share who had difficulty paying rent fell from 67% to 27%, and the share often struggling with bills fell from 31% to 11%.
Emergencies: the share able to cover a $400 emergency rose from 22% to 38%.
A mixed result: the share who said they had goals for the future fell from 96% to 78%, and the share who felt in control of their life decisions fell from 90% to 73%.
Method: before-and-after surveys plus focus groups. With 160 people, GiveDirectly treats the results as directional.

Many recipients first asked whether the program was a scam. Step-by-step guides, clear payment schedules and responsive customer service helped them get comfortable. "I wasn't into crypto before being selected, but now I know how to work Coinbase, and I have a Coinbase debit card," one recipient said in a focus group. Some said keeping the money in a separate wallet helped them save.

Recipients paid back rent and utility bills, kept phones on, started small businesses (a perfume line, a restaurant), paid for trade certifications and helped family. 39% used some of the money to support relatives.

GiveDirectly says it doesn't know why confidence about the future fell. Rising housing costs or a weaker job market may play a part. The cash may also have made recipients more aware of how little control they had over their circumstances, and the survey came a few weeks after the last payment, as they planned for life without it.

Questions and answers
Has a cash transfer pilot been paid in crypto? Yes. Future First New York, run by GiveDirectly with Coinbase, paid 160 young New Yorkers in USDC over six months. Bloomberg and CoinDesk covered its launch in October 2025.
What would recipients change? Keep the cash unconditional, add optional coaching on credit, taxes and crypto security, and give more: $24,000 or more over 12 to 24 months, by their estimate.
What does it mean for policy? GiveDirectly connects the results to policy experiments such as baby bonds and new federal children's savings accounts, and asks whether larger, longer transfers or added coaching would make the gains last.
Can people still join, or donate crypto? The pilot has ended and is not enrolling. GiveDirectly accepts cryptocurrency donations through Endaoment. Full results are at givedirectly.org/coinbase.

ABOUT GIVEDIRECTLY
GiveDirectly is a nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to people living in poverty, with no strings attached. Since 2009, it has delivered more than $1 billion in cash to more than 2 million people. GiveDirectly currently works in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda and the United States. Learn more at givedirectly.org.

Yonah Lieberman
GiveDirectly
press@givedirectly.org
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She got $12,000 in crypto, no strings attached | GiveDirectly & Coinbase