Circles UBI Indonesia (Bali pilot) New

Pilot
Funded by GnosisDAO (proposal GIP-81, passed 2 May 2023); five-month product-market-fit test completed November 2023; impact assessment with Indonesia's national research agency BRIN published 2024, after which BRIN signalled approval for nationwide conti

Circles Indonesia ran a large field pilot of Circles UBI across three districts of Bali in 2023, issuing every registered participant 24 Circles points per day (locally valued at roughly 1 point = 1 banana ≈ Rp 1,000, about 27% of the Balinese minimum wage). 1,530 participants in Jembrana, Tabanan and Denpasar made some 29,400 transactions worth 1.26 million CRC through 1,440 community shops, and at its peak the pilot accounted for about 90% of all transactions in the global Circles ecosystem.

Funding
Non-state
Blockchain

Gnosis Chain (Circles protocol)

Social identity

Circles web-of-trust: each person mints their own token and must be trusted by existing members, giving social-graph sybil resistance.

Social mining

Each verified human continuously mints their own personal currency — 24 CRC/day in the pilot — unconditionally.

Token economics

1 CRC locally valued at about Rp 1,000 (one banana); daily issuance ≈ 27% of Bali's minimum wage.

Governance

Circles Indonesia, funded and supported via GnosisDAO; research partnership with BRIN (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional).

Verified users
1,530 pilot participants (Jembrana 623, Tabanan 357, Denpasar 554), 225 of whom joined organically; 1,440 shops
Key people

Shaunda Brown (CEO, Circles Indonesia); Yanu Endar Prasetyo (BRIN, advisor); Martin Köppelmann, Friederike Ernst, Ruben Daniels (Circles/Gnosis)

Locations
Bali, Indonesia (Jembrana, Tabanan, Denpasar)
Notes

Funded by GnosisDAO (proposal GIP-81, passed 2 May 2023); five-month product-market-fit test completed November 2023; impact assessment with Indonesia's national research agency BRIN published 2024, after which BRIN signalled approval for nationwide continuation. No independently verified activity found after 2024.

- Distinct local program built on the Circles protocol, which is listed separately.
- Organised around Balinese 'Banjar' neighbourhood structures; 2024 plans targeted micro-entrepreneurs and university students.