Individuals and organizations would be able to buy and donate Telcoin online for immediate distribution to the mobile money accounts of everyone with a mobile phone in a geo-fenced disaster area. Even in the poorest corners of the world, the vast majority of adults today have mobile phones, and almost all mobile money platforms support even basic phones using text message and USSD transactions (smartphones not required).

To prevent fraud, distribution could easily be limited to mobile users who had activity in the geo-fenced area within the month prior to the disaster. Telcoin has already developed the geo-fencing and fraud prevention software, and has pledged to waive transaction fees for disaster relief transfers to allow 100 percent of donated funds to reach those in need.

Example of a hypothetical airdrop of Telcoin for disaster relief in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

In the world of cryptocurrency, the concept of “airdropping” coins generally refers to equally distributing coin to all members of a particular set — for example, everyone in a particular geography or everyone possessing a particular crypto-asset. For the Telcoin disaster relief case, airdrops would occur to anyone with a mobile phone that was active in the geo-fenced disaster area both before and after the disaster event.

By airdropping, for example, one dollar a day to everyone with a mobile phone in an acutely affected area, immediate relief can be provided while traditional aid is in transit. The basic premise is that friends and family in neighboring areas can help deliver food and water faster than relief organizations. After instantly receiving a Telcoin donation into mobile money, a user could transfer money by text to someone in a nearby area with access to goods that can be delivered to the stricken area.

Even if electricity is knocked out in the disaster area, almost all mobile tower base stations have backup battery and diesel generators, particularly in poorer areas with unreliable electric grids. Mobile networks have proven highly capable in maintaining and restoring network coverage during disasters, by manually delivering generator fuel until the power grid can be restored. In the most serious conditions, where mobile infrastructure is destroyed, a remote base station can be quickly deployed and connected by microwave or satellite, presumably faster than international aid could be delivered from outside.

Digicel and the Red Cross teaming up to assist St. Lucia residents in the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas in 2010. Source: TheBajanReporter.com

By adding telecoms and mobile money ecosystems to the mix, Telcoin can provide a powerful use case with a straightforward implementation. Instead of sending fiat-based donations to a disaster relief charity, good samaritans with cryptocurrencies could leverage blockchain technology to cut out intermediaries, with the digital ledger transparently showing exactly who receives the money. For donors without access to cryptocurrency, Telcoin plans to provide an easy way to purchase Telcoin for disaster relief via credit card or bank transfer.

Telcoin is in ongoing discussions with mobile network operators globally regarding connecting to mobile money platforms and supporting the disaster relief use case. “Cryptocurrency acceptance faces obvious regulatory hurdles, but the disaster use case has generated important, timely discussions about helping vulnerable people via tokens like Telcoin,” explains Telcoin co-founder Paul Neuner. “Every telecom I have spoken with about it so far has been excited about the prospect of getting involved in a more efficient way of providing urgent relief to those in need.”

In 2005, when social media was just beginning, the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation said, “Disasters tend to happen quickly and with overwhelming force. The same holds true for fundraising in the aftermath of a disaster. The more planning you do in advance of the disaster, the better equipped you will be to handle the outpouring of support that immediately follows such devastation.” Today this statement is even more applicable, as news of disasters spread ever faster, and relief efforts can coalesce over social media in realtime. Telcoin believes that if a transparent, efficient, and instantaneous method to send money directly to people in disaster areas exists, international donors will flock to the better alternative.