Blockchain technology, which underpins digital currencies such as bitcoin, will be used to solve the problem of identification faced by Rohingya people, the world’s biggest stateless minority.

According to Reuters, a blockchain pilot project is set to provide Rohingya people with digital identity cards, which will help them access basic services such as banking, education, and healthcare.

The blockchain initiative is being organized by The Rohingya Project. It aims to issue individual digital IDs to people after properly verifying that they are genuine Rohingya. The first 1,000 people to get these IDs in 2018 would be Rohingya members in Malaysia, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.

According to the Rohingya Project, there are an estimated 4 million Rohingya across the globe, with the majority living outside their home country, Myanmar. They have been subjected to abuse for a number of years, particularly after the enactment of the Burma Citizenship Law in 1982, which officially left Rohingya stateless.

“We are trying to put a smile on the Rohingya’s face who has been crying for decades,” said the project co-founder Muhammad Noor. “This is a ray of hope.