The publication offers a snapshot of UNDP’s evolving blockchain practice, examining how the organization engages with blockchain technologies as part of a broader effort to support inclusive, future-ready public systems. Positioned within the context of accelerating digital transformation and changing development finance, it explains why UNDP approaches blockchain not as a stand-alone solution, but as one component of a systems-based strategy focused on innovation, strategic foresight, and public sector reform.
Rather than promoting predefined models, the publication emphasizes enabling governments and public institutions to explore emerging technologies on their own terms. This work is guided by public-purpose principles, safeguards, and clearly defined development outcomes, ensuring that digital innovation strengthens institutions and advances equity rather than reinforcing existing exclusions or power imbalances.
Drawing on 42 practical use cases from across regions, the report highlights how experimentation, new partnership models, and public digital infrastructure can improve transparency, strengthen institutional capacity, and unlock new approaches to financing sustainable development. These examples span early pilots and deployments in areas such as digital payments and financial inclusion, climate and nature finance, digital identity and data governance, and community-led investment models.
The publication presents UNDP’s blockchain engagement as an evolving practice rather than a fixed blueprint, documenting lessons learned, trade-offs, and design choices as governments navigate overlapping digital, financial, and climate transitions. It reflects the growing pressure on public institutions to make faster decisions about data, payments, and digital infrastructure—choices that will shape access, participation, and governance for decades to come.
UNDP’s role is framed as that of a transformation broker, bringing public and private actors together in people-centered ways that prioritize public purpose. By combining technical expertise with a systems-level understanding of how digital technologies interact with social, economic, and political contexts, UNDP supports governments in integrating new technologies while retaining strategic control and avoiding dependence on proprietary systems.
Developed by the UNDP AltFinLab with contributions from UNDP Country Offices worldwide, the publication reflects collaboration with governments, public institutions, and diverse technical partners. It underscores UNDP’s growing practice at the intersection of digital transformation, innovation, and development finance, using blockchain as a coordination and trust layer to help redesign how value, resources, and participation flow within public-purpose systems.
