Universal Basic Income PriceUBI

What is Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a cryptocurrency token built on the Ethereum platform, described as the first Universal Basic Income token streamed to on-chain verified humans. It is the first application built on top of the Proof of Humanity registry, an anti-Sybil attack tool designed by Kleros. The token is streamed directly to an Ethereum address as long as that address is verified as a human in the Proof of Humanity registry and has started the accrual process. The project positions itself as a democratic DAO and aims to establish a fair, ongoing distribution model that provides universal access to liquidity and inhibits financial coercion of public decisions. UBI went live on 12 March 2021, when the initial liquidity mining programme launched at pools.proofofhumanity.id; 20 October 2021 is the date recorded for UBI-USD price tracking. The genesis supply was 10 million UBI minted at genesis. Total supply: 25,025,371 UBI; circulating supply: 0 (as recorded by CoinMarketCap, 29 October 2026). The maximum supply is not fixed by a hard cap; new UBI tokens are minted each time a verified human claims accrued tokens, meaning token quantity is naturally regulated by population and time.

Key Specifications & Tokenomics

• Name: Universal Basic Income
• Ticker / Symbol: UBI
• Blockchain / Platform: Ethereum
• Contract Address: 0xDd1Ad9A21Ce722C151A836373baBe42c868cE9a4
• Official Website: https://ubi.eth.limo/
• Start Date: 2021-03-12
• Category: Universal Basic Income token, DAO governance token
• Genesis Supply: 10 million UBI
• Total Supply: 25,025,371 UBI
• Circulating Supply: 0
• Max Supply: Not fixed by a hard cap; minted upon claims by verified humans. The project's supply model notes that if the Proof of Humanity registry reached 10,000 humans in its first year, total supply would be at most 27M UBI, excluding parameter changes or governance-driven burning.
• Genesis Allocation: 20% to early HOUR token contributors, 40% to initial Liquidity Mining programme, 40% to UBI community treasury
• Initial Streaming Parameters: 1 UBI per hour (720 UBI per month) per verified human
• Governance: UBI DAO with quadratic voting by verified humans
• Liquidity Venues: Uniswap v2 pools (UBI/ETH and UBI/DAI)

Who created Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

The UBI token distribution mechanism was co-designed by Kleros and Democracy Earth. Kleros designed the Proof of Humanity registry, the anti-Sybil attack tool on which UBI is built, and co-designed the UBI token distribution mechanism. Democracy Earth co-designed the UBI token distribution mechanism; its HOUR token, later rebranded to UBI, had early contributors, and investors who participated in a private offering held by the Democracy Earth Foundation in 2018 received their corresponding balances migrated to the new UBI token contract. Governance is held by the UBI DAO, a democratic DAO that sets UBI distribution parameters.

How does Universal Basic Income (UBI) work?

UBI operates through a time- and humanity-based token streaming mechanism on Ethereum. A user must first register and be verified as a human in the Proof of Humanity registry. Once verified, the user can start accruing UBI by clicking the "Start accruing UBI" button on their registered profile. UBI is then streamed directly to the user's Ethereum address, with balances updated in real time; new UBI tokens are effectively minted once transferred. The initial streaming parameter allows a verified human to accrue 1 UBI per hour, equivalent to 720 UBI per month. Anyone can monitor the quantity of UBI accrued on any Proof of Humanity profile entry. If a profile accruing UBI expires, anyone can stop the accrual process and claim the remaining accrued UBI by clicking the "Seize UBI" button displayed on the expired profile. In the same way, anyone who successfully requests the removal of a profile receives its remaining accrued UBI. Governance of distribution parameters is conducted through the UBI DAO, where UBI acts as proposal power and quadratic voting by verified humans is used to set parameters.

What makes Universal Basic Income (UBI) unique and valuable?

UBI distinguishes itself as the first Universal Basic Income token streamed to on-chain verified humans, establishing a fair and ongoing distribution model based on time and humanity rather than speculation or mining power. Its reliance on the Proof of Humanity registry provides an anti-Sybil identity layer, ensuring that tokens are distributed to unique verified individuals. The project's stated aim is that the ticker price of UBI becomes synonymous with a global consensus regarding how much a human's time is worth being supported with Universal Basic Income. The project states that, thanks to the decentralisation of Ethereum, the fiat price of UBI is the same for everyone regardless of the country they were born in. One of the project's stated aims is that the token be tradeable in all open markets, and its distribution mechanism is designed to provide universal access to liquidity that serves to inhibit financial coercion of public decisions. The project also references historical foundations, including Thomas Paine's "Agrarian Justice" (1797) and Milton Friedman's "Capitalism and Freedom" (1962), grounding its mission in centuries of economic thought. Paine proposed a payment of 15 pounds sterling to everyone over 21, financed by a land tax, while Friedman argued for a UBI in the form of a negative income tax.

What is Universal Basic Income (UBI) used for?

UBI serves multiple functions within its ecosystem. Primarily, it is a Universal Basic Income token streamed to verified humans, providing a baseline income that recipients can use freely. It acts as proposal power for the UBI DAO, allowing holders to participate in governance decisions regarding UBI distribution parameters through quadratic voting. The token is tradeable in all open markets, providing liquidity and price discovery. UBI may be burned as part of governance activities, as noted in the project's supply dynamics discussion. The UBI community treasury, which received 40% of the genesis allocation, is used as a treasury reserve for future UBI DAO proposals implementation. The token also serves as a mechanism for liquidity mining rewards, with 2,000,000 UBI allocated per pool to liquidity providers in the UBI/ETH and UBI/DAI pools during the initial programme.

How Is the Universal Basic Income (UBI) ecosystem developing?

The UBI ecosystem is centred on the Proof of Humanity registry, with UBI as its first application. Kleros provides the identity layer through the Proof of Humanity registry, while Democracy Earth contributed to the distribution mechanism design and the migration of the HOUR token. The UBI DAO governs distribution parameters. Liquidity is provided through Uniswap v2 pools for UBI/ETH and UBI/DAI. An initial liquidity mining programme went live on March 12, 2021, at pools.proofofhumanity.id and ran for a year until March 12, 2022, allocating 2,000,000 UBI per pool to liquidity providers. The programme went live on 12 March 2021 at 4:00pm UTC and was designed so that, once the UBI DAO went live, its governance would take over. The broader concept of universal basic income has been explored in various public policy and blockchain contexts.

How to mine Universal Basic Income (UBI)?

UBI is not mined through traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake mechanisms. Instead, new UBI tokens are minted each time a verified human claims accrued tokens. To participate, a user must register and be verified as a human in the Proof of Humanity registry. Once verified, the user can start accruing UBI by clicking the "Start accruing UBI" button on their registered profile, with tokens streamed directly to their Ethereum address at a rate of 1 UBI per hour (720 UBI per month) under initial parameters. Token quantity is naturally regulated by population and time, as Proof of Humanity registration is required to mint tokens. Additionally, users can participate in liquidity mining by providing liquidity to the UBI/ETH and UBI/DAI pools on Uniswap v2, with rewards allocated proportionally to liquidity. The initial liquidity mining programme allocated 2,000,000 UBI per pool, roughly translating to 5,480 UBI per pool per day.

How to keep your Universal Basic Income (UBI) Coin safe?

Keeping UBI tokens safe requires standard cryptocurrency security practices. Since UBI is an Ethereum-based token, it is compatible with Ethereum wallets that support ERC-20 tokens. Users should store their UBI in a secure wallet and safeguard their private keys and seed phrases, never sharing them with anyone. Hardware wallets provide an additional layer of security for long-term holdings. When participating in the Proof of Humanity registry and accruing UBI, users should ensure they interact with official platforms and verify contract addresses. The UBI contract address on Ethereum is 0xDd1Ad9A21Ce722C151A836373baBe42c868cE9a4. Users should be aware that if a Proof of Humanity profile accruing UBI expires, anyone can stop the accrual process and claim the remaining accrued UBI, so maintaining an active and verified profile is important. Regular monitoring of the Proof of Humanity profile and accrued UBI balance is recommended.

Risks and uncertainties

UBI carries the risks common to crypto assets. Its price is subject to market volatility, and the value of accrued tokens can rise or fall. Regulatory treatment of tokens and DAOs may change across jurisdictions and could affect how UBI can be held, transferred or used. Technical risks include smart contract vulnerabilities in the token, the Proof of Humanity registry and the Uniswap v2 pools, as well as the possibility of governance parameter changes. The supply model described above is a projection under stated assumptions, not a guarantee of future supply.