Tech investor and former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan has asked the cryptocurrency community to develop more financial tools for refugees and people without a state, saying the number of displaced people could rise with escalating conflicts and financial stress.
On March 14, 2026, in a post on X, Srinivasan wrote, War, political instability, and economic issues are forcing millions to flee. Ukrainian refugees fleeing a war zone and migrant workers leaving the Gulf countries due to rising tensions are a case in point.
According to Srinivasan, blockchain technology has the potential to offer an alternative financial system to those without access to banks or government IDs. We should build more crypto tools for refugees and stateless people,” he said. Blockchain can help people store and move money when other systems are failing.
Srinivasan describes cryptocurrency as a “wartime mode for the internet” because, as a decentralized system, the blockchain operates even when there is a cyberattack, failure of infrastructure, or financial restrictions. This is because there is no central authority for the system, and hence it continues to operate.
This follows after Andi Duro, the founder of the research firm TwoCents, made a post stating that although cryptocurrency can be beneficial to refugees, few projects are centered on developing products for this group.
Duro stated that the refugees face a failing institution and a lack of access to the payment systems, and the digital assets could solve the problem. However, he added that the industry does not often target the refugees since they are not lucrative.
Srinivasan concurred that more work is indeed needed but added that there have already been some developments. He pointed out the emergence of stablecoins, which are designed to maintain a stable value and potentially act as borderless money.
The market capitalization of the USD Coin (USDC) has experienced rapid growth in recent weeks. Its circulating supply is close to $80 billion, with approximately $79.2 billion in circulation, nearing the high in December. It started from around $70 billion in early February.
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Some of the recent growth could be related to capital flight from the United Arab Emirates due to uncertainty in the real estate market. According to data from the DFM Real Estate Index, the real estate sector has declined considerably after the war began.
Source: TradingView
Srinivasan believes that the trends indicate that crypto assets may be useful as traditional financial systems face pressure, but the industry should create more tools for those who are displaced or lack access to traditional financial systems.
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