Humanitarian Aid Without Delays? Stellar’s Blockchain Solution Explained

• Stellar is improving financial transactions by offering a faster and more cost-effective blockchain solution for cross-border payments.
• The United Nations and humanitarian organizations use Stellar to deliver direct cash assistance efficiently and securely.

Stellar blockchain is redefining how organizations transfer money by offering a faster, more transparent, and cost-effective solution. This is in contrast to most financial systems, which pose high charges and lengthy processing periods.

Anna Witson-Diaz, a representative of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), recently highlighted the misconceptions about cryptocurrency in a post on X. While the concept of crypto is close to speculation in many people, Stellar focuses on financial inclusion. The platform offers convenient and effective means of transactions for development projects, especially those occurring across international borders.

What’s the point of raising millions for humanitarian aid if it takes weeks—or never arrives at all?

Anna Whitson-Diaz from @StellarOrg explores how blockchain is solving this, helping organizations move money instantly, transparently, and without the usual obstacles. pic.twitter.com/qFEht0a8h8

— Funding The Commons (@FundingCommons) March 4, 2025

Stellar’s Role in International Development

Witson-Diaz, who previously worked with the United Nations system, emphasised the need for international payments, particularly in cross-border payments. She noted that donors and humanitarian organizations need an effective system that enables quick, secure, and cheap transactions. However, aid distribution through traditional financing mechanisms suffers from problems like high transaction costs and processing time, making it less efficient.

Stellar’s blockchain tackles these challenges by using a well-designed payment channel network. It gives the assurance that donated funds get to the targeted beneficiaries directly without going through unnecessary middlemen. Such level of efficiency and transparency is crucial for organizations involved in the management of large-scale humanitarian aid projects.

Stellar has also partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help reach refugees and affected communities directly with cash aid. By using an open-source blockchain protocol, Stellar guarantees that funds will get to the intended end users as soon as possible and without intermediaries.

This collaboration has disbursed over $5m to over 2,500 households, helping those in conflict-affected areas to find some financial respite. This reduces the issues that are normally seen when conveying aid conventionally and makes the process more efficient for humanitarian organizations.

Other programs include Stellar Aid Assist, which uses blockchain technology to deliver on-demand and affordable aid. Launched in Ukraine in cooperation with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the service aims to provide cash assistance to recipients via their smartphones. 

As we reported, SDF recently partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to develop new use cases in financial inclusion on the blockchain. The partnership supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which include poverty and economic development. The campaign leverages Stellar’s blockchain to drive the delivery of fair economic opportunities within the development hubs.

XLM Price Movement

In tandem with its growing adoption in humanitarian and financial initiatives, the Stellar (XLM) market has also increased. Its value has surged by 7% in the last 24 hours and 4% in the last week, currently trading at $0.3063. Additionally, the recent surge has boosted its market cap to $9.4 billion.

According to Coinglass, long traders are dominating the market. The Taker Buy/Sell Volume ratio has hit 1.30. This means that 60% of the positions were long, while 40% were short.

Source: Coinglass

Also, the Long/Short Accounts ratio equalled 55% for long accounts and 45% for short accounts. The drastic increase from the opening at 0.37963 to 0.2855 was due to profit-taking and short covering.