On the Christmas eve the authors of the startup Blockchain for Change decided to donate smartphones with cryptowallets for dollars and Change Coin to three thousand homeless people in New York.

At the very beginning each owner will have 30 coins that can be spent on calls and Internet traffic. Only in New York more than 60,000 people sleep in shelters and on the street, most of them have no means of communication. The project initiators plan to distribute about 200,000 gadgets by mid-2018.

A special Fummi application will be pre-installed on the gift smartphones using which the homeless can create a digital ID and thereby gain access to government services and aid funds, find nearby shelters and social canteens, control their expenses for a hairdresser, clothes, showers and overnight stays.

This is the first project to help the homeless using blockchain technology. Even at an early stage the project received $ 500,000 investment.

According to various estimates, about 1.1 billion people around the world are not officially registered which makes it difficult for them to access bank accounts, loans, government programs and services. In addition, there is hope that the introduction of the blockchain will help reduce corruption and squandering. According to the UN, about 30% of aid never reaches its legitimate destination.