Soaring prices, thinning paychecks, and the toughest holiday season in years are pushing many Americans to rethink how they manage money and in one corner of New York City, that rethink now includes crypto.

Inflation may not be rising as fast as it was in 2022–2023, but essential living costs in cities like New York haven’t come down.

Rent remains elevated, grocery prices are stubbornly high, and transportation costs are stretching budgets further than before. The result is younger and lower-income Americans are entering the holiday season with less financial room than ever.

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U.S. inflation has cooled from its 2022 peak, but essential costs remain elevated for many Americans heading into the holiday season. The latest CPI data shows prices rising 3.0% year-over-year as of September 2025, with core inflation at 2.9%, underscoring that living costs are still increasing even as headline inflation moderates.

In the New York–Newark–Jersey City metro area, rents climbed 4.0% to 4.7% over the past 12 months and regional CPI rose 3.2%, making shelter the biggest driver of household strain, per August data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National food prices tell a similar story. Grocery costs are up 3.1% year-over-year, with categories such as meats, poultry, fish and eggs rising 5.2%.

By contrast, 2022 marked one of the most painful cost-of-living spikes in decades. Headline inflation soared 6.5% year-over-year, grocery prices surged 10.4%, and shelter costs jumped 7.9%, a historic increase that reshaped budgets for renters and younger workers.

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An unusual pilot program is offering $12,000 in crypto.

The initiative, run by the nonprofit GiveDirectly and funded by leftover contributions from Coinbase’s closed philanthropy arm, is providing 160 low-income New Yorkers with USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar.

Each participant receives:

$8,000 as a lump sum, and

$800 per month for five months

All of it is delivered through Coinbase accounts, where recipients can hold, withdraw or convert the funds.

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GiveDirectly designed the structure intentionally: large enough to help with high-cost barriers, security deposits, tuition advances, or overdue bills but spaced out enough to provide recurring breathing room.

The concept is rooted in basic-income research, which increasingly shows that predictable, unconditional payments can relieve financial stress and improve decision-making.

But this is the first major U.S. pilot to use crypto rather than traditional dollars.

According to GiveDirectly, the choice was practical. USDC allowed:

Instant digital transfers

Near-zero disbursement costs

Easy conversion to cash

Options to spend with debit cards or withdraw at ATMs

The nonprofit also pointed out that many residents in the South Bronx and East Harlem — the neighborhoods selected for the trial — face barriers with traditional banking, whether due to fees, credit requirements or lack of trust.

A digital, low-cost payment rail solved several problems at once.

Emma Kelsey, the program lead for the New York cash transfer pilot, said:

\\"A lot of the research in our international work and in the US has shown that a lump sum could allow people to invest or do things that might have higher costs, like a security deposit or sign up for an education or training program,\\" Kelsey told Business Insider. \\"But, also, it's something that we've heard from participants is a preference.\\"

According to Bloomberg, speaking with program organizers and participants, nonprofit GiveDirectly and Coinbase are piloting a “Future First” basic income scheme that will pay 160 low-income New Yorkers aged 18–30 a total of $12,000 in USDC over five months to test whether no-strings lump-sum crypto support can improve housing, education and overall quality of life.

Per a Dec. 15, 2023 Coinbase blog post, the exchange wound down its GiveCrypto initiative after finding unconditional crypto transfers didn’t create lasting change, redirecting remaining funds to Brink and GiveDirectly.

According to GiveDirectly, the nonprofit has delivered $118.7M in cash transfers over the past 12 months, reaching more than 143,000 recipients, including 13,262 in October alone.

Since 2009, it has sent over $900M directly to 1.7 million people across Africa and the United States, aiming to prove that unconditional cash is one of the most efficient ways to reduce extreme poverty.

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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Nov 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.