There is enough money in the world to sustainably pay for a global basic income for all

If you share our belief that everyone should have access to basic economic (digital) assets, this month seemed to confirm once and for all there is more than enough wealth out there to pay for it. Take as a small anecdote from 2021’s NFT craze…

NFTs meet basic income

A few months ago we saw a historic mash-up of NFT speculation meets basic income. Jack Dorsey auctioned off his first tweet as an NFT for $3 million, with the proceeds going to GiveDirectly, the world’s leading non-profit in advancing universal basic income pilots.

So, why should we care? This milestone signifies that there is so much MONEY and untapped value out there, that there is NO EXCUSE why we can pay for a basic income for everyone.

Even within the niche market of digital assets, between the crypto boom of 2020 and the exploding NFT craze, there is already enough new wealth in crypto to fund a digital income to support hundreds of millions of people a year.

We need to think bigger about how we use money to generate value, for all.

For example, how could the $3 million donated by Jack Dorsey advance a basic income that touches more people? The donation model is limited by design, the $3 million donated to Give Directly will reach potentially thousands of people, but ultimately, those funds will one day finish.

Instead, we need to innovate on how we use principle funds to generate more sustainable impact. This is where financial innovation on blockchain comes in! The same $3 million could be “staked” in the GoodDollar protocol and support over 5 million people with $30 a month over the next 10 years. $3 billion staked would support 3 billion people with $30 a month. There is already $40 billion staked in DeFi.

There are no more excuses. So, what are we waiting for?

*This article is part of a monthly newsletter series. Continue reading the rest of this article originally published on the GoodDollar blog here.