HesabPay successfully migrates to Algorand Blockchain

By Leandra Monteiro

The Algorand Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen the ecosystem of Algorand, the carbon-negative Layer 1 blockchain invented by MIT professor Silvio Micali, announced that Afghan e-payment solution HesabPay has migrated to the platform.

HesabPay’s migration, which was funded through the foundation’s grant program, is expected to stimulate around 6,000 transactions daily and impact tens of thousands of Afghans, especially women, who are in dire need of access to payments.

Using the Algorand blockchain as a settlement layer, HesabPay users will benefit from its Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism that enables near-zero-cost transactions settled within 4.5 seconds. This is expected to increase the ease of use and efficiency in which HesabPay connects international aid organizations to the citizens of Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan’s liquidity has been drastically constrained by a crippled banking sector, frozen assets and an acute shortage of physical currency notes,” said Matt Keller, Director of Impact and Inclusion at the Algorand Foundation. “Equipping HesabPay with a fast, reliable and cost-effective settlement layer is critical to moving international aid into the hands of those who need it most.”

While only 6% of Afghans have bank accounts, there are 27 million mobile phones in use, of which over 9 million are smartphones. HesabPay has been used by over a dozen humanitarian organizations to send funds directly to beneficiaries in urgent need, across all 400 districts and 34 provinces of Afghanistan. This includes a program to support over 5,000 female-headed households in some of the most remote areas of Badghis and Faryab.

“With 98% of Afghanistan’s population below the poverty line and the withdrawal of spending that accompanied international forces, hunger looms for many as drought and global food prices rise,” said Sanzar Kakar, creator of HesabPay. “The Algorand Foundation shares our passion and commitment to use the power of blockchain technology to alleviate suffering by efficiently distributing financial aid with unparalleled security.”