The Lomalo app is a digital wallet for the USDM1 digital currency going into use in the Marshall Islands for the universal basic income quarterly distributions. The Marshall Islands government and advocates have touted the new digital currency USDM1, and its associated Lomalo digital wallet, as a vehicle for distribution of the UBI payments, particularly to isolated islanders. However, it is not a seamless process at this time. This is because the Compact of Free Association (COFA) trust fund – which is funding the UBI or, as they are known locally, “Enra” payments – allows only direct deposits to bank accounts or issuance of paper checks to eligible recipients of the Enra quarterly payments.
USDM1 is the world’s first sovereign, US dollar-denominated digital bond issued on the Stellar blockchain by the Marshall Islands. It was launched in late 2025 and is a “one-to-one” US Treasury-collateralised stablecoin-like digital bond. Promoters of the new digital currency option say it is a vehicle for delivering quarterly Enra payments to the country’s citizens, who are spread out across hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of ocean area on 24 atolls and single islands. The Marshall Islands launched its universal basic income program last November, with Finance Minister David Paul, left, presenting a check to the first recipient, Bonjo Ned, with program administrator Bryan Edejer at right.
The second quarterly Enra payment is to be issued at the end of March to approximately 37,000 people, up from the 33,000 who received the first payment last November. All citizens who reside in the Marshall Islands are eligible to receive the payments, which accounts for the global uniqueness of the Marshall Islands UBI system. The first quarter per capita payment was just over $200. The upcoming payment is likely to be about $175 due to increased enrollment for the fixed amount of money for the current fiscal year. MISSA administrator Bryan Edejer confirmed that the new digital currency will be used for about 100 of the approximately 37,000 eligible citizens for the March payment.
The Enra funding cannot be paid directly into Enra recipients’ Lomalo digital wallets. Instead, people who want to use the USDM1 stablecoin digital currency for their payments must go through a two-step process of getting a paper check from MISSA and then converting that to USDM1. “We have proposed to the US an amendment to include the USDM1 option,” Finance Minister David Paul, who is a backer of the digital currency programme, said. “In the meantime, those who wants their Enra in USDM1 should opt in with MISSA by having their (payment) issued out in checks first and then will have their checks converted into USDM1.”
“AT this stage, Lomalo is primarily being used for Enra-related functionality, including verifying benefit eligibility, distributing Enra payments, and enabling peer-to-peer transfers among approved participants,” Jeremy Coffey, who is one of the principals involved in the USDM1 programme, said. “Additional USDM1 is not currently available for direct retail purchase within the Lomalo wallet.” “We are currently running small-scale pilots with a limited number of local businesses.” “Once those pilots conclude successfully, we intend to announce a confirmed list of participating businesses, including via Facebook and other local channels.”
“Cash-out functionality is one of our most requested features and we understand how important it is to get it right,” he said. “We’re sequencing our feature rollout in a way that prioritizes compliance, safety, and real utility for citizens.” “Overall, we’re running a few months ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. That’s largely down to enthusiasm for the product.” “This process allows the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration to have a paper trail for accountability.”
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