Since 2019, we have supported UNICEF’s CryptoFund with ongoing donations, and we are thrilled about our latest contribution as well. Today, I would like to share the narrative of our shared journey, highlight some accomplishments from our alliance, and discuss a bit more about what lies ahead.
Why and how we began
In a prior blog entry, I described how developing economies present a significant opportunity for Ethereum, and discussed the significance of asking ourselves “who would gain the most from Ethereum?”
Individuals living in developing economies indicate billions of potential users and developers for Ethereum. The subsequent inquiry should then be: “how do we reach this next billion?”
The Ethereum initiative commenced with a small number of individuals united by a common purpose, and now it has drawn hundreds of thousands of affiliated developers and researchers. This shared vision united the community, but we must concede that it also created inherent obstacles for those not connected to someone within the group. Because of this, I was constantly conscious that the Ethereum community was devoid of the genuine diversity necessary to unlock the technology’s true potential and to engage the next billion.
Around late 2018, I was on the lookout for ways to broaden our impact when I encountered Chris Fabian from UNICEF Ventures (who now leads the Giga initiative, which we also endorse). To be honest, prior to our initial meeting, I harbored uncertainties about whether EF would coordinate well with a team from the United Nations. I perceived them as a very conventional, large organization with traditional modes of operation. However, Chris provided a couple of lists outlining their goals using blockchain technology, and that truly astounded me.
He and his team grasped the significance of public blockchains, as well as the compromises related to various protocols. This was the pivotal moment when I felt assured that a productive partnership between both groups was viable. UNICEF boasts a network, and resources that we lacked, with ongoing operations in over 190 countries, and collaboration with diverse players including NGOs, corporations, startups, and governments. They were also pursuing new ways to innovate from within. This is where our collaboration commenced, which led to our support for the UNICEF CryptoFund, announced and launched at Devcon 5 in October of 2019.
Chris Fabian and I at Devcon 5, which coincided with Halloween. The UNICEF Ventures team experienced a sleepless night coordinating with Headquarters for the CryptoFund launch.
UNICEF CryptoFund
It was fitting for the EF to become the initial donor to the UNICEF CryptoFund due to our collaboration. The CryptoFund is the first entity in the entire UN system – and potentially in the public sector as a whole – to receive, hold, and utilize cryptocurrency, making investments in technology startups within developing nations aimed at enhancing children’s lives. These startups obtain tokens and employ them without converting to fiat currency, with the objective of creating open-source, digital public resources. To date, 2,527 ETH and 8 BTC have been donated, resulting in 18 investments.
Simultaneously, the CryptoFund is addressing a key challenge faced by organizations like UNICEF – the issue of transparency and accountability. Traditionally, donors and other stakeholders lack access to a real-time, tamper-proof overview of how a charity utilizes its funds. In the case of the CryptoFund, each transaction it executes is visible on its website with a corresponding link providing immutable transaction details on blockchain explorers.
In the image above, you can see the EF’s latest donation – initially received by UNICEF France and subsequently transferred to the UNICEF Headquarters.
The CryptoFund website is powered by Juniper, an open-source toolkit created by UNICEF Ventures to facilitate the management of digital assets. Any public sector entity wishing to utilize tokens in a user-friendly, transparent manner can experiment with Juniper today.
Numerous startups that have received investment from the CryptoFund also apply blockchain technology in their products, and we will persist in supporting them through workshops, and by connecting them with talented individuals and projects within the Ethereum ecosystem. You can find more information about these startups developing open-source, digital public resources here.
I cannot stress enough how impactful this initiative has been — not only for the humanitarian sector and governments, but indeed for the world. It has heightened awareness and allowed the public to witness how a large, established, and global organization can efficiently and transparently adopt public blockchains. I have received a plethora of positive responses and sincerely hope that other traditional organizations like UNICEF feel more assured in their utilization of these public goods as well.
What’s ahead?
As we maintain our support for the CryptoFund and its portfolio companies developing digital public resources in emerging economies, EF’s collaboration with UNICEF is progressing. Through the new EF Fellowship Program, we are backing two exciting developments. One EF Fellow – representing a CryptoFund portfolio company – is collaborating with numerous national and municipal governments in Latin America to utilize blockchain in digital identity and verifiable credentials. Another EF Fellow is investigating the convergence of internet connectivity and blockchain, working alongside Giga, which is a joint initiative by UNICEF and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) aimed at providing internet access to every school globally.
I am eager to share more about their endeavors in the upcoming months and am looking forward to broadening our reach to the next billion through our ongoing partnership with UNICEF. In the meantime, you can follow them on Twitter: UNICEF Innovation (which oversees the CryptoFund), UNICEF France (the first national committee to adopt crypto), and Giga.
Finally, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Sunita Grote, who heads the UNICEF Venture Fund, Christina Rose Lomazzo, UNICEF’s blockchain lead (along with Mehran Hydary, Cecilia Chapiro, and others who were part of this journey), and to Chris Fabian, for collectively advancing these vital steps.
