By Finbold | Created at 2026-10-19 13:01:54 | Updated at 2026-10-19 21:41:26
8 hours ago
The Blockchain for Good Alliance, a global non-profit initiative founded by Bybit, has signed a two-year agreement with the United Nations Development Programme to strengthen cybersecurity knowledge and capacity for the responsible use of digital technologies in development, according to information shared with Finbold on October 19, 2026.
The agreement was signed by Edward Vrkić, UNDP’s Resident Representative to Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, and Helen Liu, Founder of BGA, at the Cybersecurity, Trust and Digital Safety Launch Summit in Singapore.
The programme will be implemented by UNDP’s Alternative Finance Lab in collaboration with BGA, drawing on cybersecurity expertise from BGA’s ecosystem to support public institutions across three areas: data protection, secure digital payments, and the security of public digital services.
Delivery will run through the SDG Blockchain Accelerator and the Government Blockchain Academy, a capacity building programme for public officials, alongside dedicated sessions for UNDP Country Offices and relevant government counterparts.
“The governments we support are facing growing and increasingly complex cybersecurity challenges, driven by ongoing conflicts, AI-enabled fraud, and more sophisticated cyberattacks,” said Robert Pašičko, UNDP AltFinLab Team Lead. “Strengthening cybersecurity capacities and building resilient, trusted digital systems are essential to addressing these risks. We welcome the opportunity to deepen our collaboration with the BGA, drawing on its expertise and experience.”
Partnership addresses a widening gap between attack sophistication and institutional defence capacity
The initiative targets a structural problem: as public institutions adopt digital systems to manage identity, payments, aid delivery, and public records, AI is accelerating the sophistication of attacks while the systems being defended grow more complex.
The programme aims to close that gap by combining technical expertise, governance frameworks, and incident response capacity for institutions that manage essential public services.
“It is fitting that this begins in Singapore, with a small group, and with the people who will actually deliver it,” said Helen Liu, Founder of the BGA. “The industry BGA comes from has learned about cybersecurity and digital safety the hard way. This partnership puts what it learned to work for the public good.”
“Prevention, response and recovery are the three pillars of cybersecurity, and public institutions need all three,” said Glenn Tan, Director of Global Affairs at the BGA. “The private sector holds much of the expertise across these areas, yet public institutions and international organizations with pressing needs often lack direct channels to access it and collaborate. This partnership opens that door.”
The agreement builds on BGA’s existing role as Strategic Partner of the UNDP SDG Blockchain Accelerator, now entering its third cohort, and its membership of the Blockchain Advisory Group, an advisory forum convened by UNDP to explore how blockchain can contribute to sustainable development.
Featured image via Shutterstock.
