In a crowded currency exchange in northwestern Syria, 46-year-old farmer Hala Mahmoud Almahmoud clutches a plastic card as if it were her lifeline. She had never dealt with cryptocurrency before, but the $500 in digital assets stored on the card will help her restart her farm after nearly 14 years of civil war.
After the teller verified the amount and handed over the cash, Hala Mahmoud Almahmoud breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and quietly thanked them. She couldn't help but ask where this technology originated.
The answer surprised her greatly: Afghanistan.
In this country known for its conservative Taliban rule, where the authorities are deeply suspicious of the internet, it's hard to imagine that such a cutting-edge innovation as blockchain-based money transfer could emerge. Yet, in this almost completely isolated nation, an Afghan startup is actively developing tools that it hopes will revolutionize the way humanitarian aid is distributed in this war-torn country.
"We've been through these difficult situations firsthand, so we know exactly how to build a truly effective solution." 26-year-old Zakia Hussaini is a programmer at the startup HesabPay, and it is the technology developed by the company that supports the card that changed Almahmoud's fate.
Near Litamena, Syria, Hala Mahmoud Almahmoud stands outside her house. She received $500 in cryptocurrency aid to restart her farm.
The UNHCR was an early supporter of the platform, using HesabPay to assist over 86,000 families in Afghanistan, making it one of the world's largest public blockchain aid projects. Mercy Corps, the organization that funds Almahmoud, is also partnering with HesabPay to extend the platform's services to Syria, while aid programs for Sudan and Haiti are also in the works.
In Syria, obtaining funds from abroad is extremely difficult: local cash is scarce, international banks avoid the country, and money transfer companies like Western Union charge fees as high as 10%. HesabPay helps institutions like Mercy Corps circumvent these obstacles.
HesabPay was founded by Sanzar Kakar, an Afghan-American businessman who previously ran Afghanistan's largest payroll processing agency. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban's return to power triggered a collapse of the financial system, with international sanctions halting all cross-border transfers and the central bank system crumbling as a result.
In response to the increasingly severe financial security crisis in Afghanistan, Sanzar Kakar turned his attention to blockchain technology. He created HesabPay, a mobile application named after the Afghan word for "account," which supports instant transfers between digital wallets without the intervention of banks or the Taliban government. He stated that the Afghan government has issued a license to the company, allowing it to operate officially as a financial institution.
Mercy Corps, the aid organization that donated the funds, partnered with HesabPay to expand the platform's reach to Syria.
Currently, the platform has accumulated more than 650,000 digital wallets in Afghanistan, of which about 50,000 are actively used daily, and about $60 million in funds are transferred monthly through Afghan stablecoins.
Carmen Hett, treasurer of the UNHCR, revealed that since February 2025, the UN has distributed nearly $25 million in aid through HesabPay to the digital wallets of 80,000 vulnerable returning Afghans. "This model significantly reduces transaction fees, shortens the waiting time for funds to arrive, and strengthens transaction traceability, real-time monitoring capabilities, and accountability mechanisms."
Ric Shreves, a decentralized finance solutions expert and chairman of the Decentralized Cooperation Foundation, said it's not surprising that organizations like Mercy Corps and the United Nations have chosen to use blockchain for aid transfers. For these organizations, "this model is almost entirely advantageous compared to traditional aid distribution methods."
However, he also pointed out that this model still carries risks, especially in payment systems like Afghanistan that use local currency-backed stablecoins (Syria's HesabPay wallet uses a US dollar-backed stablecoin, making it a more stable option). Digital wallets may be frozen due to transactions with sanctioned individuals, and theoretically, central banks may also freeze wallets for political reasons.
Mercy Corps successfully channeled aid funds to Syria using blockchain technology, addressing a cash shortage in the country where most international banks do not operate.
"We're offering people a non-physical way of transacting, which means these transactions can also be disrupted by technology," Ric Shreves said. He added that while digital currency is far more secure than cash, it can't be hidden under a mattress like cash can.
In recent years, aid agencies have increasingly favored providing assistance in cash, a method that is both efficient and preserves the dignity of recipients. However, cash has a fatal flaw: it is difficult to trace. Donors want evidence that the funds have indeed reached those who truly need them. Since President Trump drastically cut U.S. foreign aid spending early last year, agencies like Mercy Corps have faced even greater pressure to demonstrate the actual effectiveness of their aid efforts and the compliance of their fund usage.
Blockchain technology can solve this problem precisely: it generates a clear digital trail, accurately recording the amount of each fund disbursed, the recipients, and how it is used. Scott Onder, Chief Investment Officer of Mercy Corps, stated that this model, which balances efficiency and accountability, "may regain the trust of those who have questioned the value of aid efforts."
HesabPay also features additional security measures, such as a real-time dashboard that tracks wallet transactions and cross-references them with international compliance databases. The company states that the system can identify illicit activities such as terrorist financing, money laundering, and online fraud, issuing immediate alerts upon detecting suspicious transactions. For aid donors, it offers a level of regulation that is difficult to achieve in vulnerable countries.
Abdul Moti Hammoud, a resident of Halfaya, lost a leg after accidentally striking a landmine while driving a tractor. He was also one of the recipients of a Mercy Corps aid program.
In a recent online demonstration, Nigel Pont, a senior humanitarian advisor at the company, clicked on a purple dot representing a HesabPay agent in Afghanistan. Dozens of light blue wallet icons representing recipients then unfolded, clearly showing recent transaction records; clicking again revealed the subsequent flow of funds. During the demonstration, one wallet suddenly flashed a red warning of potential fraud. While this made the live demonstration slightly awkward, it precisely validated the system's risk identification capabilities.
Nigel Pont, former chief strategy officer at Mercy Corps, said, "From the donor's perspective, the value of this feature is immeasurable. A system that automatically flags fraud risks allows us to investigate immediately, rather than waiting six months to receive a report that someone has misappropriated $20,000 in aid." He acknowledged that no system can completely eliminate corruption, and cash aid is no exception.
22-year-old Abdul Halim Hasan stood in line with Almahmoud at a currency exchange in Syria, waiting to cash out his HesabPay card. He said he hoped one day he could use it like a regular bank account, securely receiving, sending, and saving money. But for now, the HesabPay card was enough to provide him with the funds he needed to rebuild his life after the war.
"I sincerely hope that this approach can be adopted more widely in Syria," he said.
