Matthias Broner: UNICEF's Financial Rails for the Age of AI | Intelligence at the Frontier 2026

Sat, May 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

As AI displaces workers and traditional UN funding gets pulled back, UNICEF is building the financial infrastructure to get resources to people who need them most. Matthias, an advisor to the UNICEF Office of Innovation, walks through a set of live blockchain-powered initiatives: a crypto donation protocol (Drips) funding five digital public goods across 131 countries, an impact staking program that puts idle ETH to work for humanitarian causes, and AidLink — a system that delivers cash transfers via SMS to people without internet access, building digital wallets entirely behind the scenes. UNICEF has held and disbursed crypto assets since 2019, longer than any other UN organization. The goal is to leverage blockchain as financial infrastructure for people the traditional system doesn't reach, tested in the real world before being scaled. Speaker: Matthias Broner (UNICEF Office of Innovation) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.