Field training session in Nairobi in front of an AidLink pilot banner

Shelter · Deck

Open source · DPG certification in progress with UNICEF · ISO/IEC 27001

Shelter — we get value to anyone, and you see it in real time

by Xcapit

Money, aid or resources to whoever needs them — no bank account, no smartphone, no internet — with real-time reporting and visibility of every delivery.

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterField training session, AidLink pilot, Nairobi · Video and photo: UNICEF Venture Fund01 / 21

Shelter · Deck

The problem

Too much aid is lost on the way to the people it is meant for

Cash and voucher assistance now makes up a fifth of humanitarian aid, but the plumbing behind it was built for another era: correspondent banks, opaque fund flows and multi-day settlement.

of every aid dollar consumed by intermediary costs, by the most generous estimates: 15–30¢
typical settlement time for a traditional cross-border humanitarian payment: 3–5 days

Source: Xcapit analysis of AidLink and UNICEF humanitarian cash transfers (opens in a new tab)

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Shelter · Deck

Shelter

Two things Shelter solves

Subsidies, humanitarian aid and corporate benefits: they reach anyone, and every delivery is visible in real time.

01
Reaches anyone
- No bank account, no smartphone, no internet: an SMS wallet on any basic phone
- In stablecoins, with on-chain settlement in under 2 minutes
- Spent at local shops or exchanged to local currency and mobile money, such as M-Pesa
02
Real-time visibility
- Every delivery is recorded instantly: how much, where, when and the status of each disbursement
- Audit-ready reports for donors, regulators and auditors, plus a public dashboard
- No personal data on-chain: names and phone numbers are never stored on the blockchain

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Shelter · Deck

Shelter in numbers

What we have already delivered

Beneficiaries reached: 1,185+
Distributed in aid: USD 15,000+
Deliveries completed: 100%
Cost per on-chain transaction: ~0.01 USD

Across Shelter field pilots, 2024–2026. Includes the Nairobi 2026 pilot, whose results are not yet published.

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Shelter · Deck

How it works

One pipeline, from registration to cash-out

Register
Enroll with a phone number
Configure
Rules in smart contracts
Disburse
To any basic phone
Use
Spend or cash out

< 2 minon-chain settlement

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Shelter · Deck

SMS wallet

Works on any basic phone

Beneficiaries do not need a smartphone, an app or internet access.

No smartphone
No internet
No bank account

Account abstraction on Polygon: the wallet is tied to the phone number, with no private keys for the user to manage.
Create a wallet, check a balance, send and receive stablecoins by text message.
Pay at shops with a one-time passcode (OTP) confirmed by SMS.
Messages in the local language, including Quechua in Peru.

SMS on a phone screen greeting the user in Quechua: Hola, Allinllachu! Billetera digital creada.

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterWallet created by SMS, greeting in Quechua · Photo: Xcapit06 / 21

Shelter · Deck

Platform

Rules, delivery, tracking and reporting in one platform

01Configurable disbursement rules
02Multi-chain settlement
03Real-time tracking
04Beneficiary verification
05Last-mile delivery
06Compliance and reporting

Shelter smart contract distribution flow

Multi-chain

EVM networks
Solidity
Stellar
Soroban
Cardano
Aiken

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Shelter · Deck

A Quechua woman in traditional dress uses a basic phone in Cusco, Peru

Field pilots

Cusco, Peru · August 2024

Real purchases with an SMS wallet in Quechua

A first field test of the SMS wallet with real purchases in the Plaza de Armas and local markets, with wallet messages in Quechua.

purchases: 10
success rate: 100%
total in USDT/USDC: $18.25
per purchase (gas + SMS): ~$0.27

Smallest purchase: $0.10, proving micro-payments work.

Read the pilot write-up (opens in a new tab)

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterSMS wallet pilot, Cusco, Peru, August 2024 · Photo: Xcapit08 / 21

Shelter · Deck

Field pilots

Cusco, Peru · 2024 · UNICEF Venture Fund

270 beneficiaries and 100% of funds in the wallets

Shelter in the AidLink pilot, with consortium partners Rumsan (beneficiary registration and blockchain infrastructure) and Kotani Pay (conversion to local-currency mobile money), operated by a local NGO after a 2-hour training.

beneficiaries: 270
distributed: $15,000+
on-chain settlement: < 2 min

Cusco pilot results dashboard: 270 beneficiaries, over $15K disbursed, settlement under 2 minutes, 100% traceable

AidLink consortium

Rumsan — Consortium partner of the AidLink pilot: beneficiary registration and blockchain infrastructure
Kotani Pay — Consortium partner of the AidLink pilot: conversion to local-currency mobile money

Read the case study (opens in a new tab)

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Shelter · Deck

A woman in a hijab holds a basic feature phone toward the camera during the AidLink pilot in Nairobi, Kenya

Field pilots

Greater Nairobi, Kenya · December 2025 · UNICEF Venture Fund

USDC over SMS, cashed out to M-Pesa

49 people with intellectual disabilities, identified by Advantage Africa, received USDC by SMS wallet and cashed out to M-Pesa. The UNICEF Venture Fund published the results on 10 March 2026.

beneficiaries: 49
each: 65 USDC
disbursed and off-ramped: 100%
seamless, avg. 19 min: 79.6%

AidLink consortium

Rumsan — Consortium partner of the AidLink pilot: beneficiary registration and blockchain infrastructure
Kotani Pay — Consortium partner of the AidLink pilot: conversion to local-currency mobile money
Advantage Africa — Beneficiary identification in Kenya

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterAidLink pilot, Nairobi, Kenya · Photo: UNICEF Venture Fund10 / 21

Shelter · Deck

Greater Nairobi, Kenya · December 2025 · UNICEF Venture Fund

Under 2 minutes on-chain, 19 minutes to M-Pesa

Speed

A note on speed: on-chain settlement takes under 2 minutes. The full cash-out to M-Pesa in Kenya averaged 19 minutes, with 79.6% of transfers (39 of 49) completing seamlessly and the fastest in 1 minute.

Why there were delays

Delays came from RPC outages and a temporary KES liquidity shortage.

AidLink Kenya pilot summary: 49 beneficiaries, 65 USDC each, 100% completion, 19 minutes average, fastest transfer 1 minute, 79.6% seamless

“Operating in real humanitarian settings highlighted challenges related to infrastructure, connectivity, and coordination. These experiences reinforced that technology must remain simple, flexible, and context-aware.”
— José Trajtenberg, CEO, Xcapit

Read the results (opens in a new tab)

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Shelter · Deck

Field pilots

Caracas, Venezuela · April 2026 · UNICEF Venture Fund

Direct aid to 30 Fe y Alegría educators

30 educators from the Virginia de Ruiz II school received $100 USDT each (total $3,000) in wallets created by SMS and redeemed them at FORUM supermarkets with their national ID.

educators: 30
in USDT: $3,000
spent on food: 94%

Caracas pilot results: $3,000 USDT to 30 educators, 94% spent on food, 5/5 satisfaction

“Walking through the FORUM aisles, I saw the joy on my colleagues' faces. Many were able to save the money they had set aside for food and finally buy something else.”
— José Quiroz, Planning Coordinator, Virginia de Ruiz II School, Fe y Alegría

Pilot partners

Fe y Alegría — Pilot partner in Caracas
FORUM — Supermarket redemption in Caracas

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Shelter · Deck

Nairobi, Kenya · 2026

Second deployment in Kenya

A new field deployment in Nairobi. Its reach is already included in Shelter's aggregate figures; results have not been published yet.

Results coming soon

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Shelter · Deck

Close-up of a smiling market seller in Cusco holding up her phone with the wallet

Results

Three countries, 100% of deliveries completed

purchases · Cusco, Peru, August 2024: 10
beneficiaries · Cusco, Peru, 2024: 270
beneficiaries · Greater Nairobi, Kenya, December 2025: 49
educators · Caracas, Venezuela, April 2026: 30

What we learned

Micro-payments work: the smallest purchase in Cusco was $0.10.
A local NGO ran the AidLink pilot in Cusco after 2 hours of training.
In Kenya: add USSD, simplify SMS commands and pre-fund the off-ramp.
In Caracas, 63% completed the redemption in a single visit.

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterMarket seller, Cusco, Peru · Photo: Xcapit14 / 21

Shelter · Deck

An Xcapit team member helps beneficiaries using a laptop and phones in a UNICEF-backed program

Track record

Since 2018, taking technology where infrastructure doesn't reach

2018Xcapit was founded in 2018 by José Trajtenberg and Fernando Boiero.
2020Selected by the UNICEF Innovation Fund (now UNICEF Venture Fund).
2024The Xcapit Wallet, built with UNICEF Venture Fund investment, was recognized as a Digital Public Good by the DPGA in May 2024. DPG registry (opens in a new tab)
Dec 2024UNICEF Venture Fund mid-investment update, with USD 314,829 in growth funding for the humanitarian-aid platform.
Feb 2026UNICEF Innovation published a story on the AidLink results from Nairobi: 49 participants received USDC by SMS on basic phones and cashed out to M-Pesa.

4M+

people reached with the wallet built with UNICEF

167+

countries with users

Xcapit Wallet only

The 4M+ people and 167+ countries refer to the Xcapit non-custodial wallet, backed by UNICEF.

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterWorking with beneficiaries in a UNICEF-backed program · Photo: UNICEF Venture Fund15 / 21

A group of young people hold their smartphones together during Xcapit field work with communities

Shelter · Deck

Track record

What UNICEF and our team say

Congratulations to Xcapit for their excellent work. Their technology is bringing digital assets closer to those who need them most, helping UNICEF Innovation bring the benefit of technology to the last mile.

Shane O'ConnorInnovation Manager, UNICEF

Our solution ensures that aid reaches the right hands, on time, and in the right way.

Antonella Perrone, COO, Xcapit

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterXcapit field operations with communities · Photo: UNICEF Venture Fund16 / 21

Shelter · Deck

Trust

Full transparency over funds, full privacy over people

Open source
The core disbursement engine and smart contracts are open source.
Digital Public Good
Digital Public Good certification in progress with UNICEF.
ISO/IEC 27001
Xcapit holds ISO/IEC 27001 certification (IRAM / IQNet).
No personal data on-chain
Names, phone numbers and other personally identifiable information are never stored on-chain.
Public dashboard
Every disbursement is recorded on-chain and can be audited on a public Dune dashboard.

Backed by

UNICEF Venture Fund — Funder and backer of the Shelter pilots
Stellar Development Foundation — Backer of Shelter

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Shelter · Deck

The Xcapit team with local participants on a street in Cusco, Peru

Who it's for

Who Shelter is for

Humanitarian organizations
Distribute emergency aid, cash transfers and vouchers with full traceability and donor accountability.
Government agencies
Deliver social subsidies, conditional cash transfers and incentive programs with transparent disbursement and anti-fraud controls.
Companies
Manage employee benefits, CSR programs and community investment funds with automated distribution and compliance reporting.

What you can distribute

USDC
USDT
cUSD (Celo)
Voucher tokens
Conditional transfers

With rules: Eligibility, amounts, schedules and restrictions, encoded in smart contracts. Funds earmarked for a defined purpose when the program requires it.

Xcapit Impacto · ShelterXcapit team and local participants, Cusco · Photo: Xcapit18 / 21

Shelter · Deck

How we start

A focused pilot in one country, then scale

Each solution can start with a focused pilot in one country and grow on the same infrastructure.

Estimated technical integration: 2 weeks

Shelter plugs into your registration system and your last-mile provider, so you keep the partners you already work with.

on-chain settlement: < 2 min
Cost per on-chain transaction: ~0.01 USD

Roadmap

Vision 2026

From infrastructure proven in field pilots to a full platform for impact asset distribution at global scale.

01Multi-currency support, including stablecoins and CBDCs
02SDK and API for third-party integration
03AI-powered fraud detection and anomaly alerting
04Self-service portal for NGOs and government agencies

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Shelter · Deck

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What types of assets can Shelter distribute?: Stablecoins, native tokens and custom token standards on any EVM-compatible chain, including USDC, USDT, cUSD (Celo) and project-specific tokens for vouchers or conditional transfers. Stellar and Cardano deployments are also supported.
How does Shelter handle areas with poor internet connectivity?: Shelter delivers to an SMS wallet and connects to mobile money providers such as M-Pesa, so beneficiaries can receive and use funds from a basic phone without internet access.
How fast is a transfer, really?: On-chain settlement takes under 2 minutes. The full cash-out to M-Pesa depends on the off-ramp: in Kenya it averaged 19 minutes, with 79.6% of transfers completing seamlessly and the fastest taking 1 minute.
Does Shelter put personal data on the blockchain?: No. Fund flows are public and auditable, but names, phone numbers and other personally identifiable information are never stored on-chain.

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Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru, under a blue sky

Shelter · Deck

Tell us what you need to deliver, and to whom.

Tell us about your program and we'll see whether Shelter, or something like it, fits.

Book a discovery call

Write to us: hola@xcapit.com

calendly.com/jose-xcapit/30min

Shelter's public page: www.sheltertech.io/en/soluciones/shelter

Xcapit INC (USA) · CryptoLab S.A.S. (Argentina) · Xcapit SAC (Peru) · Córdoba · Lima · Miami