239, we’re excited to welcome Rael Kilonzo, Developer Community Lead, and Hadar Rottenberg, Tech Lead at GoodDollar, a protocol designed to deliver digital universal basic income at scale, leveraging blockchain to financially empower people around the world, regardless of where they live or what access they have to traditional financial systems.

You’ll learn:

• 💰 How GoodDollar is using blockchain to deliver digital universal basic income to over 100,000 people around the world
• 🛠️ How the GoodBuilders Program is rethinking impact funding, with rewards streamed continuously and adjusted based on community voting, mentor input, and real growth metrics
• 🚀 How to join the GoodBuilders program, and what kinds of projects and integrations the team is most excited to see in Season 3
• 💡 And what it truly means to "unlock human potential" through decentralized technology

‍--Key Takeaways--

💰 UBI is just the beginning. Utility is what makes it work: GoodDollar at its core is a universal basic income protocol, distributing G$ to people around the world. But for it to work, the token needs utility. It needs to be spendable and integrated into a thriving ecosystem. That's the purpose of the GoodBuilders Program: to grow the economy around G$ by funding projects that create meaningful use cases and drive adoption.

🌊 Streaming funding creates real-time accountability and iteration: Instead of lump-sum payments, rewards are streamed continuously over three months through Flowstate, with allocations adjusted based on community voting, mentor input, and growth metrics. This model gives builders real-time feedback on their progress, encourages continuous iteration, and ensures funding flows toward projects delivering value.

🤝 Funding alone isn't enough. Mentorship and community make the difference: The GoodBuilders Program is designed to balance funding with hands-on mentorship, support, and community connections.

--Full shownotes with links available at--
www.cryptoaltruists.com/blog/crypto-altruists-episode-239-gooddollar-inside-the-goodbuilders-program-funding-mentorship-and-building-impact-with-g-dollar

Thank you to PIPE gDAO for sponsoring the Crypto Altruism podcast!

PIPE gDAO is leveraging blockchain for their University Real World Asset IP Launchpad that helps bring groundbreaking ideas from lab to market.

--Support us with a Fiat or Crypto contribution--
Learn more at https://www.cryptoaltruists.com/about/support

--DISCLAIMER--
While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, do not take any of this as investment advice and make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity, before making an investment. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More info at cryptoaltruists.com/disclaimer

For episode 236, we’re excited to welcome Bill Laboon, VP of Ecosystem at Web3 Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting the growth of the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems.

You’ll learn:

• 🌍 How Encointer is transforming community aid in Tanzania, achieving a 240% multiplier effect by blending blockchain with local practices like rotating savings groups
• 🪪 Why Proof of Personhood and decentralized identity are essential infrastructure for scaling impact projects and ensuring aid reaches real people
• 🏥 How the Whiteflag Protocol leverages Polkadot to help NGOs trustlessly share locations in war zones enabling coordination without compromising safety
• 💡 Hard-earned lessons from years of building in Web3, including what the ecosystem still gets wrong when it comes to real-world impact

‍--Key Takeaways--

🌍 Meet people where they are and build with them, not for them: The most successful blockchain-for-good projects don't parachute in with technology and expect adoption. They listen first. They learn from local customs, traditional practices, and existing community structures. Real impact comes from working alongside communities and designing solutions that amplify local wisdom.

🪪 Proof of Personhood is foundational infrastructure for impact and a better internet: In an age of AI-generated content, deepfakes, and fraud, the ability to verify that a real human is behind an action is becoming essential. Proof of Personhood and decentralized identity are critical for scaling aid, ensuring inclusion, and rebuilding trust online. For impact projects, knowing that resources reach real people is the difference between success and failure.

🔍 Stay curious and resist echo chambers: Bill's top advice for anyone building in Web3: be relentlessly curious. Explore other ecosystems instead of pledging allegiance to a single chain. Look to history for lessons that can inform the future. The builders who thrive are the ones who stay open, keep learning, and draw wisdom from everywhere, not just their own corner.

--Full shownotes with links available at--
www.cryptoaltruists.com/blog/crypto-altruists-episode-238-web3-foundation-proof-of-personhood-community-currencies-and-empowering-ngos-with-polkadot-kusama

Thank you to PIPE gDAO for sponsoring the Crypto Altruism podcast!

PIPE gDAO is leveraging blockchain for their University Real World Asset IP Launchpad that helps bring groundbreaking ideas from lab to market.

--Support us with a Fiat or Crypto contribution--
Learn more at https://www.cryptoaltruists.com/about/support

--DISCLAIMER--
While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, do not take any of this as investment advice and make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity, before making an investment. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More info at cryptoaltruists.com/disclaimer

For Episode 237 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we’re going to something a bit different. In this special solo episode, host Drew Simon reflects on the current state of crypto; its capture by bad actors, its association with extreme political movements, and its potential as infrastructure for democracy rather than authoritarianism. He issues a call to action for builders to commit to transparency, community ownership, and resilience, highlighting projects that are leading the way.

We explore:

• 🗳️ Why blockchain is at a critical crossroads, and why the choices builders make today may determine whether it becomes a tool for the people, or to further advance the interests of the elite.
• 🚨 How corporate and political capture is undermining crypto and the decentralization movement, and what we can do about it
• 🔍 The role blockchain can play in fighting disinformation, protecting elections, and rebuilding trust in an age of epistemic chaos
• 🤝 And some commitments every builder and community member can make to ensure blockchain serves democracy, community ownership, and human resilience

‍--Key Takeaways--

🗳️ Blockchain is at a crossroads, and builders must choose a side: The rise of authoritarianism, the capture of crypto by grift and political opportunism, and the association with the far right have put blockchain's future in question. But the technology itself is neutral. What matters is who builds it, for whom, and with what values.

🔍 Blockchain can be infrastructure for truth, not just transactions: In an age of disinformation and epistemic collapse, blockchain offers powerful tools: verifiable credentials, decentralized identity, on-chain attestations, knowledge graphs, and censorship-resistant communication.

🤝 The antidote to grift is building with values, and being louder about it: There are so many examples today of incredible builders creating systems designed for community ownership, not extraction. But this work is drowned out by the noise of speculation and scandal. The crypto community must fight harder for the narrative, amplifying the builders doing meaningful work and demanding better from the industry.

‍

--Full shownotes with links available at--

www.cryptoaltruists.com/blog/crypto-altruists-episode-237-what-are-we-building-for-democracy-authoritarianism-and-the-future-of-crypto

Thank you to PIPE gDAO for sponsoring the Crypto Altruism podcast!

PIPE gDAO is leveraging blockchain for their University Real World Asset IP Launchpad that helps bring groundbreaking ideas from lab to market.

--Support us with a Fiat or Crypto contribution--
Learn more at https://www.cryptoaltruists.com/about/support

--DISCLAIMER--
While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, do not take any of this as investment advice and make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity, before making an investment. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More info at cryptoaltruists.com/disclaimer