Beyond the Classroom: Learning about stablecoins for good
When many of my fellow students hear about cryptocurrency, they picture speculative hype, 200% volatility headlines, and high-profile market collapses. But beyond these headlines, a shift is taking place where it matters most. By leveraging stable digital assets, the Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement aims to build inclusive economic systems where no one is left behind.
Seeing blockchain used for social and environmental impacts is a stark contrast to how I first understood the technology. In high school, I authored an argumentative paper on whether governments should regulate blockchain technology. Back then, blockchain was largely defined by volatile early cryptocurrencies and the rise of NFTs, viewed more as a means to bypass traditional finance systems than a tool for practical applications.
Diving into IBSI’s work to understand more about the application of stablecoin interventions for societal impact reshaped my perspective. After developing an IBSI Research Brief for their paper “Deploying Stablecoins for Good: Paths to Shared Prosperity with Blockchain”, I interviewed lead author and blockchain expert Jillian Grennan of Emory University and co-author Jennifer Sturdy, IBSI’s Research Director.
Why stablecoins?
Grennan’s entry into this space began in 2016 while working on fintech projects. At the time, Grennan did not see stablecoins as a killer application, but the tumultuous market environment and volatility flipped that perspective. The ecosystem has moved far past a single, monolithic concept into a clear spectrum of private and central bank options of varying quality. This evolution is what initially inspired Grennan to look beyond standard finance and explore ReFi, an attempt to merge decentralized finance with sustainability.
Sturdy joined IBSI in 2024 and took over administration of the Lab for Inclusive FinTech (LIFT). Before IBSI, she spent about 20 years working in the international development space where she worked in plenty of contexts where financial inclusion efforts are needed most. She understood from the literature that mobile money could positively impact financial resilience and savings (see Suri and Jack 2016), but hadn’t been exposed to blockchain technology or stablecoins. Joining LIFT, she was curious to learn more about blockchain and how it works and doesn’t work to support more vulnerable populations, particularly those facing economic hardship in volatile settings.
Can stablecoins drive social impact?
When it comes to social impact, Grennan views stablecoins as an incredibly powerful tool, especially in contexts where financial infrastructure is fundamentally broken. While roughly 90% of the US population is banked, that number drops to a dismal 25% in places like Myanmar or Afghanistan, forcing people to waste immense time and energy creating clumsy workaround solutions just to complete basic transactions. Beyond basic payments, Grennan is fascinated by how this technology can serve as the economic backbone for valuing non-pecuniary goods that traditional markets completely ignore. Through platforms like the Regen Network, blockchain can price environmental services like water rights and Amazonian deforestation preservation – truly working toward ReFi.
For Sturdy, her focus is on understanding who is using the technology, for who, and for what. The Coala Pay case study and its project with Save the Children in Malawi is where Sturdy understood the type of problem this technology can solve in the contexts she’s familiar with. And Coala Pay stayed honest about constraints – off-ramping out of a digital wallet still requires a lot of thought, coordination, and trustworthy partners since individuals can’t buy groceries with their digital wallet. But, to really answer this question, she hopes there are opportunities to study the benefits and costs for vulnerable populations beyond small pilots.
When it comes to social impact, Grennan views stablecoins as an incredibly powerful tool, especially in contexts where financial infrastructure is fundamentally broken.
How can regulations help?
Grennan remains optimistic about the overarching trajectory toward a structured, globalized regime.
On the regulatory front, Grennan sees a landscape in transition, slowly moving toward a world where inherent crypto risks are transformed into manageable, familiar frameworks for traditional regulators. Grennan is an advocate for creating regulatory “safe harbors” for humanitarian aid workers, believing these organizations should be given the benefit of the doubt so they can rapidly deploy aid in crisis zones without being instantly paralyzed by compliance frameworks.
Globally, harmonization is picking up speed as the US, Europe, Singapore, and Hong Kong implement similar quality-based rankings that differentiate reliable payment stablecoins from riskier, non-endogenous variants. While significant loopholes still persist, such as Tether operating a compliant US subsidiary while remaining non-compliant elsewhere, leaving the market to absorb liquidity and reputational risks, Grennan remains optimistic about the overarching trajectory toward a structured, globalized regime.
What are key takeaways?
I don’t want to just push for disruptive tech that treats vulnerable communities as temporary beta testers. I want to help broaden the imagination of what stablecoins can do, designing scalable, pragmatic business models where risk management, corporate profitability, and community equity actually reinforce each other.
Ultimately, Grennan hopes readers will take away a broader imagination of what this technology can achieve and wants to inspire a new wave of social entrepreneurs. By showcasing concrete pathways and real-world examples – like how Endaoment quickly routed aid to people during the LA wildfires – Grennan wants to prove that systemic payment problems have viable, scalable solutions that often start at a very small scale. Grennan believes stablecoins should not be categorized as strictly humanitarian aid tools or basic corporate payment rails. Instead, the goal is for readers to recognize that this is a versatile piece of technology capable of supporting a massive variety of diverse business models and creating lasting equity.
For Sturdy, she hopes others who haven’t heard of blockchain or are skeptical about its application in specific contexts can use this paper as an introduction and a consideration of this tool. Just like any intervention, she hopes the message is to take time to understand whether it’s the right fit for the problem at hand, and to bring a critical assessment of the benefits and risks to organizations, individuals, and households.
And for me? My time as a Business Administration and Data Science double major at Berkeley has always been driven by a passion for financial inclusion. This paper and these interviews reshaped how I look at the space. In the tech bubble, it’s easy to view crypto through the lens of speculative DeFi. However, looking at regions like Myanmar or Afghanistan, where financial infrastructure hovers around just 25%, completely changes the narrative. Stablecoins aren’t just a cool fintech trend. Instead, these assets can support organizations to bypass broken local banking, heavy-handed levies, and exploitative regimes and retain their money’s value.
Working on the brief and interviewing both authors allowed me to realize that building inclusive technology means designing for messy, volatile, real-world constraints, rather than just optimizing code in a clean digital vacuum. This insight fundamentally shifted the kind of strategist and builder I want to become. I caught myself rethinking the whole evolution of ReFi—and even though its early iterations hit major hurdles as a failed experiment, the underlying philosophy is revolutionary. Shifting away from purely extractive business models to systems that can value non-pecuniary goods, like tracking deforestation or directly redistributing wealth to biotech contributors, opens up a massive playground for social entrepreneurship. But – I don’t want to just push for disruptive tech that treats vulnerable communities as temporary beta testers. I want to help broaden the imagination of what stablecoins can do, designing scalable, pragmatic business models where risk management, corporate profitability, and community equity actually reinforce each other.
building inclusive technology means designing for messy, volatile, real-world constraints, rather than just optimizing code in a clean digital vacuum
