Original title: Protocol Highlight: Celo Foundation
Original author: Artemis
Original source: x.com
Compiled by: Mars Finance, Eason
Welcome to this month’s Protocol Highlights. Today we’re interviewing @ivcelo, Head of Ecosystem @celo, managing the emerging Ethereum Layer 2 and mobile-first blockchain network. We’re excited about Celo as stablecoin activity is driven by: @minipay (3M active wallets!) and Isha’s mission to shape financial markets for people in emerging markets. Read more to learn about Celo’s story, exciting dApps on Celo, and Celo’s transaction and stablecoin volumes 📈!
An Interview with Isha from Celo
Hi Isha! What is your role at Celo? How did you learn about Celo and decide to join?
I am the Head of Ecosystem at the Celo Foundation, the nonprofit organization that governs the emerging Ethereum layer 2 and mobile-first Celo blockchain network. In my role, I support projects currently building on Celo and lead strategy and business development with mission-aligned teams to grow an ecosystem of 1,000 projects in over 150 countries.
I am a chartered accountant and prior to joining Celo, I had worked in traditional finance sectors such as PE and M&A. These roles helped me develop a deeper understanding of financial and monetary infrastructure. However, growing up in emerging markets (Africa and India) and working in FinTech organizations in the global south also informed my fundamental belief that technology can play a key role in shaping and reshaping the financial model in these markets - especially since they have no legacy systems to overcome. When I first heard about blockchain technology, the beliefs and understanding I had gained from working at TradFi and living and working in emerging markets all came together. It was clear that this was the technology to simplify the process of moving money and increase global financial accessibility. From that point on, I began to look for organizations with a strong commitment to this space, and Celo was the perfect fit.
What is Celo’s original story? How has it changed over time and why?
Celo was born out of the recognition by founders Rene Reinsberg (@RegenRene), Marek Olszewski (@Marek_), and Sep Kamvar (@sepkamvar) that there was no simple, easy-to-use global payment system for cryptocurrencies. In the process of creating “cryptocurrency’s answer to Venmo,” it became clear that no blockchain at the time could support fast, low-cost, global cryptocurrency transactions. That’s why they pivoted to create the mobile-first EVM-compatible blockchain that exists today.
Of course, as it is a community-governed protocol, a lot has changed since the mainnet launch on Earth Day 2020. From the first governance proposal to offset all carbon emissions, to the introduction of Ultragreen Tokenomics via the Gingerbread hard fork last September, the network and ecosystem have matured tremendously over the past four years.
But the biggest change is definitely the move to Ethereum Layer 2! Last year at EthCC, core contributor cLabs proposed moving from the existing EVM-compatible Layer 1 to Ethereum Layer 2. Since Celo was originally forked from Ethereum and has always maintained close compatibility with the EVM, we have never strayed far from the Ethereum ecosystem. However, specific use cases for Celo, especially in emerging markets, rely on core strengths such as sub-penny transaction fees and fast transaction speeds. Until scaling solutions like EigenDA emerged last year, a return to Ethereum was impossible without sacrificing these strengths. This led to cLabs' proposal, which has received strong support from the Celo community and the broader blockchain ecosystem. After months of research, testing, and community governance to coordinate the utilization of key infrastructure such as the OP Stack, the Dango testnet is now live.
What is the most unique way users use Celo? What makes Celo unique?
I think most Celo users are not typical current Web3 users. Most users are not degens and may not be integrated into memecoin or even DeFi culture. Most Celo users are new to Web3 and are integrating decentralized applications built on Web3
The Celo Network is integrated into their daily lives — a true testament to the builders’ commitment to creating real-world solutions.
To give a simple example, Samira is a chicken farmer in Makadara, whose loan from Jia’s Huma pool helped her grow her business. Testimonials like this are a great reminder of how the Celo ecosystem is working to unlock the potential of cryptocurrency and make financial tools accessible to everyone.
What exciting applications are there on Celo? Which applications or initiatives on Celo are you most excited about?
Of course, all of the applications being built on Celo are interesting, and we are lucky to have so many smart, talented developers realizing their visions on Celo. Coming from my personal background in traditional finance and fintech, I think the progress being made by the RWA project on Celo is particularly exciting to me. Unlock Finance, Centrifuge, Swiftly, and many more initiatives that are leveraging Web3 technology to create a more efficient and accessible financial system will undoubtedly spark enthusiasm.
Why should developers build on Celo?
The developers building on Celo are amazing — they work alongside some of the smartest, hardest-working teams in the industry, all committed to using blockchain technology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. If you’re looking for an ecosystem and collaborative environment that aligns with your mission, look no further than Celo.
In addition, core contributor cLabs is committed to technical excellence by continuously updating the infrastructure. From mobile-first infrastructure and SocialConnect primitives (reducing complexity by using mobile numbers as wallet addresses) to transaction costs below one cent, Celo is all about accessibility. As a result, projects have wider distribution channels and more opportunities to directly impact users' daily lives.
How should institutional investors view Celo’s token economics and business model?
I may be biased, but from a token economics perspective, the Celo chain is severely undervalued. From an everyday user perspective, it is one of the fastest growing chains, introducing thousands of new users to Web3 every week through applications like MiniPay.
If I were to explain Celo’s core business model, it would be that sustainable growth is driven by a focus on real-world use cases in emerging markets. Given our global ecosystem and reach, this year we will be particularly investing in stablecoins and RWAs as key growth drivers. The local deployment of USDC and USDT is a prime example of this in the past six months of planned implementation.
Congratulations on the recent growth in Celo stablecoin trading volume! What do you think is driving the growth in trading volume?
Thank you! A large part of the increase in stablecoin transaction volume can be attributed to the growth in user micropayments For those unfamiliar, MiniPay is Opera’s self-custodial stablecoin wallet built on Celo. It integrates with the Opera Mini Android app and has over 3 million activated wallets, a number that is growing rapidly. Earlier this month, MiniPay was updated to allow trading and seamless swaps with USDT and USDC, complementing Mento’s existing use of cUSD.
Mento’s Summer of Stablecoins event was also very exciting and drove growth in stablecoin trading, with their launch of local stable assets like the Kenyan Shilling bringing more accessibility and use cases to stablecoins.
What do most people misunderstand about Celo? / What is the most surprising thing about Celo?
Metrics are often viewed as a one-size-fits-all approach that measures each network 1:1 without considering the mission and goals of each ecosystem. Providing real-world solutions to everyday users, many of whom are located in emerging markets where cryptocurrencies have the greatest potential to solve pressing problems, requires specific metrics.
Micro-lending, peer-to-peer payments in the Global South, and Universal Basic Income (UBI) are some of the key use cases on Celo that are actively benefiting users around the world, and the way to measure success is through daily active users (DAU), as these transactions are not large. From a chain-agnostic perspective, this is a good reminder to consider all the ways we can track how a project is accomplishing its mission - because each network has its own unique purpose.
How does Celo use or hope to use Artemis?
Data-driven metrics are critical to measuring success and identifying where we can grow — which is exactly why Artemis is such an important partner for the Celo ecosystem. We will use Artemis to track growth in key metrics like DAU and stablecoin volume, and drill down to identify any blind spots that may exist.
Key Metrics Dive: Celo
I’m Andrew, a Data Scientist at Artemis! You can also find me here on X Celo’s Daily Active Addresses (DAA) have exploded since March, but are not yet at the same levels as Ethereum at around 370k DAA.
ETH vs Celo Addresses: https://app.artemis.xyz/chart-builder/3885
The growth in transactions was driven primarily by the use of stablecoins, with Opera’s MiniPay driving a significant portion of the volume. The number of daily transactions has increased more than 6 times since the beginning of the year, with stablecoins of all sizes seeing an increase in transactions, indicating that the product has a broad user base.
Celo Stablecoin Transaction Count by Size
Celo is an ideal platform for stablecoin payments because it has very low average transaction fees. Looking at average transaction fees over the past month, Celo has the lowest average transaction fees among the Layer 1s tracked by Artemis. Celo’s ability to pay for gas in stablecoins is also beneficial for users who want flexibility when transacting on the blockchain.
See Avg Transaction Fees here
Thanks for reading! Want to connect with Isha? Send us a direct message and we’ll be happy to introduce you to her.
