Glo Dollar (formerly "Global Income Coin" / GLO)
Glo Dollar (USDGLO) is a 100%-reserve-backed, ~$1 USD-pegged stablecoin issued by the Glo Foundation, a Delaware public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco and fiscally sponsored by Global Impact. The project began in 2022 as "Global Income Coin," a proposed free-floating seigniorage cryptocurrency meant to fund a global UBI, but that model was abandoned in summer 2022 after the Terra/Luna collapse and rising interest rates made a fully-backed stablecoin more viable. Since its June 2023 launch, the Foundation donates 100% of the yield earned on its Treasury-bill/cash reserves to charitable causes chosen by USDGLO holders (1 token = 1 vote); GiveDirectly's cash-transfer/basic-income programs in extreme-poverty regions of Africa are one of several selectable causes (alongside climate, humanitarian-aid, and Web3 public-goods recipients). As of mid-2026 USDGLO's market cap is only ~$2 million, so actual monthly donations are in the low hundreds to low thousands of dollars — real but very small-scale relative to the original global $1/day UBI vision.
Blockchain, Stablecoin, Ethereum, Crypto, USDGLO, GiveDirectly, Basic Income, AutoPGF, Formerly Global Income Coin, Global
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Glo Foundation
- City
- San Francisco
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://www.glodollar.org
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Funding type
- Nonprofit, Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Crypto
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Ongoing / unconditional
- Yes
- Distribution Type
- Onchain stablecoin transfer (Glo Foundation to GiveDirectly, in USDGLO), GiveDirectly then disburses cash to end recipients via mobile money
- Benefit details
Glo Foundation does not distribute USDGLO directly to poverty-stricken individuals as a UBI. Instead, the yield earned on USDGLO's reserves (held by issuer Brale Inc. in cash/T-bills) is donated monthly, in USDGLO, to charitable organizations chosen by token holders — GiveDirectly being the basic-income-relevant recipient. GiveDirectly then converts/uses these funds within its own cash-transfer programs, which give recipients roughly $30/month via mobile money for 3-5 years. Brale retains 100% of reserve earnings on the first $2M of assets backing USDGLO, and the Foundation only receives an increasing share of yield above that threshold — a threshold USDGLO's market cap (~$2M as of 2026) is only just reaching, which caps how much can currently be donated. Documented individual monthly donations (per Glo's public donations page) have historically ranged roughly $15–$550 per recipient organization, far below the scale needed for a meaningful UBI at population level.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
There is no eligibility process for receiving funds directly from Glo Dollar/Glo Foundation — the Foundation funds partner organizations, not individuals. Eligibility for the underlying cash transfers is set entirely by GiveDirectly, which identifies extremely poor households/villages (historically in Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and other African countries) using its own poverty-targeting criteria, independent of and not exclusive to Glo Dollar funding. Anyone globally with a crypto wallet can buy/hold USDGLO and vote on where the yield goes; there is no eligibility screening for holders.
Application Process
- How to apply
NA — there is no application process for UBI/cash-transfer recipients through Glo Dollar itself. Anyone can buy USDGLO on supported exchanges/DEXs (Uniswap, Stellar, etc.) or via https://www.glodollar.org/buy-glo-dollars. Individuals cannot apply to Glo Foundation to become UBI recipients; that determination is made independently by GiveDirectly.
- Selection process
Glo Foundation does not select individual UBI recipients. USDGLO holders vote (1 token = 1 vote) each month on which funding recipient organization (e.g., GiveDirectly, Coala Pay, Celo Public Goods, Giving Green) receives the Foundation's reserve-yield donation for that cause area. GiveDirectly separately and independently identifies extremely poor villages/households for its own cash-transfer/basic-income programs using its established poverty-targeting methodology.
