Self launches stablecoin distribution program for USA₮ on Celo

Getting dollars to people who need them without making them hand over their personal data sounds like a contradiction. Self, USA₮, and Google Cloud have built something that resolves exactly that tension, and they’ve chosen the Celo blockchain as the place to do it. The three partners launched a mainnet faucet program that distributes USA₮, a regulated dollar-backed stablecoin, directly to verified users. The verification step is the interesting part: Self’s zero-knowledge proof-of-humanity technology reads a user’s passport and confirms they’re a real, eligible human being, then immediately discards the underlying data. The wallet gets funded. The personal information stays private. What the faucet actually does Self’s zero-knowledge system means that a user can prove “I hold a valid passport and I’m not on a sanctions list” without the program ever seeing the passport number, name, or any other identifying detail. The compliance check, including OFAC screening, happens cryptographically. USA₮ was deployed on Celo on July 29, 2026, making Celo its second mainnet launch after Ethereum. From day one, the stablecoin supported native minting and burning functions, and it operates as a...