Aid organizations in sanctioned regions use stablecoins to bypass broken financial infrastructure. OSUM pays Syrian hospital staff via Digibank's digital wallet and Stellar's bulk payment tool, cutting costs to 2% and delivery from months to minutes.
Syria's conflict and international sanctions cut the country from the global financial system. OSUM operates hospitals in Northwest Syria but couldn't easily pay staff. The traditional workaround meant driving cash across borders or waiting hours in Turkish bank branches. The solution: Digibank's digital wallet paired with Stellar's Disbursement Platform and USDC stablecoins, connected to a network of Hawala brokers for converting digital currency to physical cash. Employees now receive salary in minutes instead of months; transaction fees dropped from 20% to 2%. The breakthrough wasn't new technology alone, but integrating blockchain into centuries-old trust networks.
