“The programme, expected to cost about $US30 million annually, will not cost Marshallese taxpayers and is covered by a trust fund under the Compact of Free Association, an agreement that provides the Marshall Islands with substantial American money in exchange for guaranteeing US military access.”
“The Marshall Islands government says the initiative will act as a financial safety net for the nation’s 43,000 citizens and help stem high levels of outward migration.”
“It also places the Marshall Islands at the centre of a real-time global policy experiment, as governments and policymakers consider ways to support citizens through a range of economic disruptions like the emergence of artificial intelligence.”
“Meanwhile, Paul said the option of cryptocurrency payments would let the UBI reach citizens living on remote atolls, many of whom lack access to banks, ATMs and reliable non-satellite internet.”
“He said Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellite service enabled remote communities to receive payments of a kind of cryptocurrency called USDM1.”
“Monique Taylor, a lecturer in world politics at the University of Helsinki, said that kind of cryptocurrency was backed by US Treasury securities and designed to be more stable compared to typical privately issued cryptocurrency.”
See also: Marshall Islands digital currency debuts this month in limited form