Alyssa Hertig, “How Bitcoin Could Make Distributing a Universal Basic Income Actually Possible”

As cryptocurrencies grow more mature, they may offer a method for providing a basic income to citizens across the globe, argues Alyssa Hertig in an article in Vice. Advocates like Greg Slepak, founder of Group Currency, believe that basic income has not yet been adopted on a large scale due, in part, to “government incompetence” in safe and efficient delivery of the funds. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can potentially avoid this problem.

Bitcoin, like other cryptocurrencies, can be programmed to automatically pay out a basic income to members. It also provides a secure ledger, accessible to all members, for the delivery of funds. This allows a basic income to be implemented among consenting individuals without the passage of legislation.

Hertig describes two new platforms, UCoin and Ethereum, that might to be used to allow a basic income to be distributed through a system like Group Currency. Other technological advances may simplify the process of implementing a basic income even further.

Alyssa Hertig, “How Bitcoin Could Make Distributing a Universal Basic Income Actually Possible”, Vice, August 12, 2015.