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Universal Basic Income

Universal Basic Income

TL;DR:

UBI distributes a flat amount of income to everyone in a defined group or network—regularly, without conditions. The goal is to decouple survival from labor, enabling more people to contribute meaningfully to public goods, care, and creativity.


In Web3, UBI is being implemented through:

  • Onchain streaming tools (e.g. Superfluid, Sablier)
  • Verified identity layers (e.g. Proof of Humanity, BrightID)
  • Smart contract logic that automates disbursement and rate control
  • UBI DAOs and local currencies that reflect bioregional needs


Key design questions in UBI systems include:

  • Who qualifies? (everyone? verified humans? residents?)
  • What is the distribution rate? (monthly, daily, streaming?)
  • How is it funded? (protocol revenue, inflation, donation, tax?)


UBI is especially valuable in regenerative, solidarity-based, or equity-driven ecosystems, and often complements mechanisms like Gift Circles, Crowdstaking, or Mutual Aid.

Best For

  • Addressing economic inequality and precarity
  • Enabling broader participation in public goods ecosystems
  • Supporting care work, stewardship, and slow contribution
  • Piloting post-work, post-scarcity economic models

Good At

  1. Creating economic security as a base layer
  2. Reducing gatekeeping and conditional funding logic
  3. Encouraging intrinsic motivation and diverse participation
  4. Building shared identity and trust through collective wealth

Dependencies / Requirements

  • Treasury or protocol revenue stream
  • Identity or membership verification (optional but often useful)
  • Distribution mechanism (streaming, batching, etc.)
  • Political and social alignment around unconditional giving

Not Good At

  • Funding large, capital-intensive projects
  • Precision targeting or performance-based rewards
  • Environments with sybil or fraud risks
  • Use cases where conditionality is needed (e.g. milestone-based grants)

Who Should Use It?

  • Protocols or DAOs with recurring surplus or revenue
  • Regenerative and solidarity economy builders
  • Local or digital communities promoting economic justice
  • Networks wanting to diversify who gets to show up and build

Example Use Cases

  • Proof of Humanity distributes a UBI stream to every verified individual
  • A protocol allocates 5% of fees to fund a UBI stream for active ecosystem participants
  • A local DAO provides basic income in a community currency, usable at nearby vendors and services