Denver Basic Income Project
The Denver Basic Income Project delivers unconditional cash to people experiencing homelessness — the first and largest US study of guaranteed income for unhoused individuals, with over $10 million distributed to more than 800 participants since 2022. Randomized payment tiers of up to $1,000 a month feed a University of Denver research program measuring housing, employment and financial-stability outcomes, and the organization is now extending the model statewide through its Colorado Cash Dividend initiative.
The most rigorously studied US guaranteed-income experiment for unhoused people — humanity-first in intent and radically transparent about mixed results — but as money it is pure fiat redistribution with no monetary architecture, scoring accordingly.
M69 Score
Scored against the Money2069 Manifesto — see methodology. Higher = more aligned.
Detailed Rating Breakdown
Issuance Model3x2.0
No money creation — the program distributes donor and city fiat at organizational discretion. The distribution itself is debt-free and unconditional, but issuance is philanthropy-dependent and tied to fundraising, not economic activity.
Spending Power Stability2x2.0
Payments are denominated in USD and import its inflation wholesale; the program has no stability mechanism of its own.
Fiat Independence & Interoperability2x1.0
Entirely fiat: USD payments over banking rails, dependent on the US financial system at every step.
Traction2x2.0
800+ participants and first-tier external recognition (major media, peer-reviewed pipeline, SSWR January 2026 presentation of 24-month results), but adoption is by definition subsidy-driven, the participant base is small, and funding contractions have already interrupted payments once.
Sovereignty1.0
Fully custodial and centralized — a single nonprofit, one jurisdiction, payments revocable when funding lapses.
Governance3.0
Conventional nonprofit board governance, redeemed by unusual transparency: the research design, payment tiers and full results — including the null 24-month between-group findings — are published openly.
Resilience2.0
Hit a funding cliff in 2024 that halted payments before city and donor money extended it; survival depends on each next fundraising cycle, though the research output gives it institutional staying power.
Inclusivity3.0
Purpose-built for the most financially excluded population in its city and payments carry no conditions, but enrollment is a closed research cohort rather than open participation, and tiers treat participants differently by design.