🌍 What is Celo? (CELO)
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Celo is a platform serving as a global payment infrastructure for cryptocurrencies, with a particular focus on targeting mobile users. Its mission is to make financial activities accessible to anyone worldwide by enabling payments to be sent and received via any phone number.
In addition to facilitating basic payments, Celo supports the development of decentralized applications (dapps) on its blockchain. Some of these dapps include initiatives allowing contributions to community-based universal basic income schemes and crowdfunding platforms for social causes.
💼 Governance and Stability
Central to Celo's operations are two native tokens:
CELO: A governance asset used for voting on protocol changes.
Celo Dollars (cUSD): A stablecoin pegged to the value of the US dollar, providing stability for transactions.
👩💻 Founders and Funding
Celo was co-founded in 2017 by Rene Reinsberg, Marek Olszewski, and Sep Kamvar. Marek Olszewski, an MIT professor and former Google executive, was among the co-founders. The project has raised over $46.5 million through private and public token sales, with investments from venture capital firms such as a16z Crypto, General Catalyst, and Social Capital.
⚙️ How Celo Works
The Celo network operates through three main contributors:
Light Clients: Mobile applications like Celo's mobile wallet.
Validator Nodes: Computers that participate in Celo's consensus mechanism, validate transactions, and produce new blocks.
Full Nodes: Computers acting as intermediaries between validator nodes and mobile wallets, facilitating transaction requests.
🔐 Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)
Celo utilizes a Proof of Stake governance mechanism known as Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) to keep its distributed network synchronized. Validator nodes must stake a minimum of 10,000 CELO tokens to participate in blockchain operations. Currently, there are 100 validator nodes voted in by full nodes, each rewarded with a portion of the block reward.
💱 cUSD Stability
Celo's ability to operate stablecoins like cUSD provides efficiency and transparency in transactions while mitigating the volatility associated with cryptocurrencies. cUSD is pegged to the US dollar and backed by an overcollateralized reserve consisting of CELO and other cryptocurrencies.
📈 Future Plans
In the future, Celo aims to expand its stablecoin offerings to include currencies other than the US dollar, such as the euro or yen, allowing CELO holders to propose and vote on the creation of additional stablecoins.
