🌍 This Week in Web3ForGood
is blockchain... mainstream?!
Web3forGood is a weekly publication that celebrates and critically analyzes how emerging web3 technology could be used to make the world a better place.
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Is blockchain now… mainstream?!
With FIFA and the UNDP embracing it, alongside OG innovators like Mercy Corps Ventures (check out details on their new pilot in Haiti, below), it sure feels like it.
Plus, Japan’s big banks, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, Mastercard? Web3 can create real public value, and big players are starting to notice.
The challenge is becoming less about adoption, more about values and coordination (more on that below too).
WAGMI (we are going to make an impact!)
What’s Inside
📚 What We’re Thinking About
📣 Latest News
🔈 Watch & Listen
🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act
🎪 Events
📡 On Our Radar
✨ And One More Thing
📚 What We’re Thinking About
🏛️The UNDP launched a Blockchain Advisory Group
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched its new Blockchain Advisory Group (BAG) this week, bringing together 26 organizations from across the blockchain ecosystem to explore how blockchain technologies can support development outcomes. The inaugural meeting focused on financial inclusion and digital finance, tackling challenges like fragmented payment systems, digital identity, interoperability, and institutional readiness.
For years, blockchain only sat at the edge of development conversations. At best it was seen as a frivilous technology; at worst, it was flat out taboo (👋 hello! This is a big part of why we started Web3ForGood!). UNDP’s blessing sends a clear message that blockchain belongs in legitimate development discussions. Financial inclusion, digital public infrastructure, climate finance, and public service delivery are all areas where the trust, coordination, and accountability made possible by blockchain would be enormously beneficial.
Notably, UNDP is not talking about replacing governments or rebuilding public systems onchain. Instead, it’s asking how blockchain might complement existing infrastructure. For example: with better payment rails, more transparent aid flows, portable credentials, and interoperable records.
This is a great start, but it’s certainly not perfect. The list of those included in the discussion features many foundations and ecosystem organizations, but not many voices from governments, civil society, or frontline development practitioners. Development challenges are rarely technology problems alone. The real test for BAG will be whether it can help move blockchain from pilots and experimentation to systems that people actually use and benefit from at scale.
💸 Stablecoins in Haiti
Mercy Corps Ventures, Fonkoze Foundation, and Paon Bleu recently launched a pilot in Northwest Haiti that will distribute $80,000 in USDC to 200 women enrolled in Fonkoze’s Chemen Lavi Miyò (CLM) social promotion program. Using the Bousol wallet, participants can receive, spend, or cash out digital funds through local vendors. A parallel group will continue receiving traditional cash assistance, creating a direct comparison between digital and cash delivery.
In rural Haiti, delivering physical cash has become increasingly dangerous, while existing digital payment systems often come with high fees and poor user experiences. Stablecoins provide a safer and more efficient alternative.
This pilot asks a simple, but important question: does digital cash improve outcomes? By comparing safety, efficiency, and user experience across both groups, the project aims to generate evidence humanitarian organizations can actually use.
⚽ The World Cup
How could we not be thinking about it, along with the rest of the world? The tournament kicked off yesterday in Mexico City, and there’s actually a surprising amount of blockchain on the pitch and behind the scenes. For example, FIFA built its own Avalanche-powered chain, which processed 60,000+ ticket-access transactions in a matter of days… with most fans having no idea they used web3 at all. Kraken signed on as the tournament’s official crypto exchange. South Africa’s team has a fan token. Prediction markets are going full speed ahead. TLDR: on the world’s biggest stage, blockchain is everywhere.
Plus:
🧩 Kevin Owocki writes about why coordination, not capital or model capability, is the bottleneck.
🗺️ A clear starting path for social impact leaders to engage with AI; ask these four questions to ground your AI strategy in your organization’s purpose, capacity, and values.
🛡️ Everyone is getting crypto wrong. Blockchains might be the only way to protect our private, personal info on the internet in the future. “If the US can’t even protect its own soldiers from the work of data brokers, what hope is there for regular people? It seems unlikely that policymakers will fix this. Could technology? Tools the cryptosphere has incubated during the past decade are powerful enough that there’s a reasonable chance.”
🕊 Freedom tech is pushing back against digital authoritarianism.
📣 Latest News
Global Policy, Regulation, and Adoption News
Reports & Project Updates
June Newsletter - Crypto Altruists
101 Real-World Blockchain Use Cases Handbook - Global Blockchain Business Council
2026 Annual State of Crypto Holders Report - The National Cryptocurrency Association
🔈 Watch & Listen
Crypto Altruists - Episode 255 - Separating Hype from Hope: A Pragmatic Take on AI, Crypto, and the Cost of Overpromising
🚀 Opportunities & Calls to Act
Apply: The European Ethereum Institute is hiring a Research Associate - Part-Time.
Apply: Rootstock Labs is hiring a Senior Product Designer, Operational Security Engineer, and Venture Lead - Payments.
Host: Devcon 8 Community Hub applications are now open. Devcon Community Hubs are physical spaces within the main venue that host their own complementary programming. These programs are curated and independently organized by community groups with expertise in the chosen topic.
Fund: The Tor Project and Funding the Commons are running a crypto crowdfunding campaign for internet freedom using the quadratic funding methodology. Donate to a project directly or fund the matching pool. The more individual donations a project receives, the more match pool funding they receive.
🎪 Events
Virtual
Metagov Orientation Call is happening June 17.
Greenpill Network Community Call is happening June 17. 🆕
Regenerative Technology Playshop ~ Governance & Collaboration is happening June 30.
Community Call: Deliberative & Democratic Tech hosted by Metagov x CrownShy is happening June 30.
Regenerative Technology Mutual Aid Innovation Gathering is happening July 15.
IRL
Berlin Blockchain Week 2026 is happening June 13-21 in Berlin.
Neocypherpunk Summit is happening June 14 in Berlin.
SheFi Berlin: Cute Canal Coffee at Berlin Blockchain Week is happening June 15 in Berlin. 🆕
Stablecoin Conference 2026 is happening June 15-16 in Mexico City.
State Capacity in the Digital Era, a panel discussion from UCL IIPP, is happening June 17 in London.
Bread Hangout at Berlin Blockchain Week is happening June 19 in Berlin. 🆕
ETHWomen is happening July 21-22 in Toronto. 🆕
UN Open Source Week 2026 is happening June 22-26 in NYC.
East Africa Adopting Bitcoin Conference is happening June 24-26 in Nairobi.
European DAO Workshop 2026 is happening July 6-7 in Winterthur, Switzerland.
DWeb Camp 2026 is happening July 8–12 in Alte Hölle - Brandenburg, Germany.
DWeb Camp Cascadia is happening July 30 - August 3 on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada.
FW:B Fest 5 is happening July 31-August 2 in Idyllwild, CA.
Liberpulco 2026 is happening August 13-23 in Liberland Ark Village, Serbia.
Crypto Commons Gathering is happening August 16-22 in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria.
Valley of the Commons is happening August 24 - September 20 in the Austrian Alps.
Boston Blockchain Week is happening September 8-10 in Quincy, MA.
The Gathering is happening September 11-15 in Portugal.
The Technoprogressive Opportunity is happening September 19-20 in London.
ETHGlobal Tokyo 2026 is happening September 25-27 in Tokyo.
Progress Conference 2026 is happening October 8-11 in Berkeley, CA.
Responsible Tech Summit: Embedding Accountability in the AI Era is happening October 29 in NYC.
Devcon 8 is happening November 3-6 in Mumbai, India.
Foresight Institute’s Vision Weekend USA 2026 is happening November 13-15 in San Francisco.
ETHWomen is happening November 17-18 in Florida. 🆕
The Africa Bitcoin Conference is happening December 2-5 in Blantyre, Malawi.
Recurring
Monthly Earth Day is a global event that happens on the 22nd every month, not just once a year. Get involved next on June 22.
📡 On Our Radar
Ethos Atlas is a newsletter that connects social impact leaders, climate change activists and engaged citizens with funding, job opportunities, meaningful media and other concrete resources to help them drive change.
✨ And One More Thing
