‍

The Challenge

How do you make social aid transparent without exposing people in a surveillance system?

Humanitarian organizations have faced the same impossible choice for decades:

• Transparency for institutions and donors
• Privacy and dignity for beneficiaries
• Running aid operations on scale during crises

Traditional aid systems force you to pick one.

Because they depend on manual processes, financial intermediaries, and opaque reporting.

Spanish Red Cross (Cruz Roja) just proved you don’t have to choose.

The Solution is “RedChain”

Cruz Roja developed “RedChain” as a blockchain-based aid platform to manage donations and social aid.

• In collaboration with Barcelona-based technical infrastructure provider BLOOCK
• Using Billions Network's zero-knowledge technology (iden3)

“People seeking assistance shouldn't have to choose between getting help and protecting their privacy” said Francisco López, Project Lead at Cruz Roja’s regional organization Creu Roja, Catalonia.

He added, “We designed this system so donors can verify their contributions made a real difference, and beneficiaries can access support without fear of being tracked, profiled, or stigmatized.”

Credential systems vs Surveillance systems

Billions Network’s approach is fundamentally different.

Instead of forcing a choice between transparency and privacy, the architecture achieves both. It separates what donors need to know from what they don't.

“What Cruz Roja built here is a credential system, not a surveillance system," said Evin McMullen, CEO & Co-Founder, Billions Network.

“Recipients hold proof of their eligibility in their own wallet. They present it when needed, reveal nothing else, and move on with their lives. That's how identity should work everywhere and especially in humanitarian and public-interest systems. You own your credentials, you decide what to share, and no one builds a profile on you without your consent.”

The distinction matters.

• Surveillance systems collect, store, and control your data. They build profiles. They track behavior. Access requires surrendering information you can never reclaim.
• Credential systems prove facts about you without exposing underlying data. They verify eligibility without revealing identity. You hold the credentials. You decide when and what to share.

This is zero-knowledge verification at work.

How it works

The platform ensures that every donated euro is traceable and no beneficiary is exposed.

“The architecture follows a principle we apply across all our enterprise deployments: blockchain should certify truth, not store content,” said Lluís Llibre, CEO of BLOOCK

• Every transaction generates a cryptographic proof
• Each proof is permanently anchored and independently verifiable
• The proof contains no personal information

Unlike some blockchain-based initiatives that rely on biometric identifiers or invasive data collection of personal information, the Cruz Roja platform’s design verifies outcomes without recording who received the aid.

The Billions-powered privacy-first verification protects vulnerable populations from getting exposed to tracking, profiling, surveillance through:

• End-to-End Traceable Aid
• Privacy by Design

The platform digitizes the full lifecycle of social aid:

Donations → Allocation → Spending → Audit

Each step is traceable and verifiable, creating an immutable audit trail while ensuring no personal data ever touches the public blockchain.

The platform demonstrates Billions Network’s capability for social impact without surveillance, speculation, or unnecessary complexity.

Real impact

To date:

• 952,000+ cryptographic transactions processed
• 257,000+ data validations
• Real-time aid distribution during crisis response
• Measurable reduction in administrative overhead

The project received the Talent Chamber Award (Innovation, 2020) from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

This isn't theoretical. It's deployed. It's working.

What this means

Cruz Roja proves a principle that extends far beyond humanitarian aid:

Verification and privacy aren’t opposites. They’re complements.

You can have:

• Transparency without exposure
• Accountability without surveillance
• Trust without invasion

The same architecture applies to government benefits, healthcare access, financial services, educational credentials, age verification.

Any system requiring proof without exposure.

The choice ahead

Every industry building digital identity systems faces a fundamental choice.

Build surveillance systems that collect and control user data in centralized databases.

Or build credential systems where individuals hold cryptographic proofs and maintain sovereignty over their information.

One path leads to permanent tracking and power concentrated in institutions.

The other leads to privacy, dignity, and individual control.

Cruz Roja chose Billions Network's privacy-first infrastructure.

Their deployment proves it works.

The question is: will others follow?

About Billions Network

Billions Network is the leading human and AI verification platform, built on mobile-first verification to scale the internet of value globally. Created by the stewards of the world's leading zero-knowledge verification framework, Circom, Billions secures the work of major organizations and blockchain ecosystems serving over 150 million users globally. The platform provides privacy-preserving digital identity solutions that work across both Web2 and Web3 applications.

Website: https://billions.network

About BLOOCK

BLOOCK is an innovative software platform that integrates enterprise IT systems with blockchain technology in a fast, secure, and cost-effective manner. Founded in Barcelona in 2020, BLOOCK has deployed solutions for clients across pharmaceuticals, healthcare, financial services, education, and logistics—making blockchain's benefits accessible without technical complexity. BLOOCK's framework supports the five pillars of information security: integrity, authenticity, availability, confidentiality, and non-repudiation.

Website: https://bloock.com or write to hello@bloock.com

About Cruz Roja

Cruz Roja (Spanish Red Cross) is a voluntary humanitarian institution serving as the Spanish affiliate of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Founded in 1864, it operates at local, provincial, regional, and national levels across Spain, providing emergency healthcare, social inclusion services, employment support, and disaster response.

Website: https://www.cruzroja.es

Press coverage

• Biometric Update: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202602/billions-launches-blockchain-aid-platform-for-spanish-red-cross
• Cointelegraph: https://cointelegraph.com/news/spanish-red-cross-launches-redchain-privacy-blockchain
• The Defiant: https://thedefiant.io/news/infrastructure/spanish-red-cross-taps-ethereum-zk-proofs-for-data-privacy
• ID Tech (FindBiometrics) https://idtechwire.com/spanish-red-cross-backed-redchain-aims-to-add-auditability-to-humanitarian-aid-flows/
• Startup News: https://startupnews.fyi/2026/02/03/spanish-red-cross-rolls-out-redchain-for-private-donations/
• CoinTrust: https://www.cointrust.com/market-news/spanish-red-cross-launches-privacy-first-blockchain-aid-system/amp
• reporteBTC: https://reportebtc.com/blockchain/cruz-roja-espanola-lanza-plataforma-de-ayuda-con-blockchain/
• Bitcoin Inside: https://www.bitcoininsider.org/article/298377/spanish-red-cross-launches-redchain-protocol