Ask HN: How to give cryptocurrency to people in need?

>There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the best way to help poor people is to give them cash, rather than traditional support like food, medicine or training.

I've not seen this (but have seen the inverse often); do you have any references or examples?

Then why not just do that, then?

Source: I live in Colombia and talk with Venezuelans all the time about their situation.

Step 2: Give them cash.

2. Hire mobile money agents in those places to facilitate crypto to fiat exchange (when necessary)

3. Monitor progress extensively.

4. Incentivize merchants in the selected towns and villages to accept crypto for payment (granted, easier said then done, but I have some ideas there as well)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_smartphon...

People aren't going to care much unless they can spend it though. Maybe find places that have a higher concentration of places that accept cryptocurrency and focus on those? Maybe Ghana, China or Nigeria?

https://coin.dance/volume/localbitcoins

This answer is a bit rambly, but I think my subconscious has a point to make, and I'm trying to tease it out.

This may come across the wrong way, but: which poor people? Your town, your country, or your whole planet?

I'm not an expert, but my hunch is if you start with a very local project (depending on where you live, it shouldn't be hard to find your local poverty), you'll get the answers you need - and I think if you're going to make a big impact, it will grow from that.

When I lived in L.A., young-me sat down with someone I thought was homeless - a panhandling gent sitting on some steps in Hollywood - we talked, about a bunch of things, he told me about his routine. Said he made about 30 bucks at night at that spot - also turned out he had a home, so I'd made an incorrect assumption.

A lot of my friends thought it was pretty weird that I would engage with the guy. Guess they had bad experiences with similar situations? I don't know. I doubt it; I suspect people were afraid. But what do you have to lose?

Talk to some of the people you're looking to help. A few small things will stand out in your mind - scale those.

I'm jumping the gun here, but if your mind's reaction is that that's not 'global' enough - I don't think anything grows to be a global force without a solid kernel, and that should be able to succeed at a small scale.

For what it's worth, that's my take.

Best of luck.