The Payments: $12,000 in a Stablecoin

Select New Yorkers are set to receive $12,000 worth of cryptocurrency payments thanks to a new program by GiveDirectly, a nonprofit focused on alleviating poverty by giving cash directly to people. The program is funded by Coinbase—a cryptocurrency exchange.

According to a Bloomberg report, this pilot program provides 160 low-income New Yorkers with $12,000 worth of USDC, a type of stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, and will be paid out in one lump-sum of $8,000 and five smaller payments of $800 each.

USDC is issued by Circle, a payments technology company. USDC is considered far less volatile than cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin because it’s intended to closely track the price of the…