Celo - a first-level blockchain, created as a result of the Go Ethereum (Geth) fork in 2017. But some significant changes have been made to it, including the introduction of PoS and a unique address system. The Celo Web3 ecosystem includes DeFi, NFT and payment solutions with over a hundred million confirmed transactions. Contents:
Celo blockchain
Celо - a mobile blockchain that allows anyone with a phone to easily access financial services, transfer and receive money by using the recipient's phone number and public keys.
Celo was created by Rene Reinsberg in August 2017. He previously worked for Internet domain registrar and hosting company GoDaddy for several years. Since then, the project has grown enough to accommodate a large team that includes experienced employees from a wide variety of fields. Including from the public and private sector, technology, non-profit and non-governmental organizations. The project aims to be a decentralized platform that is developed, updated and managed by a large community of individuals, businesses and partners, rather than being controlled by a single person or organization. Celo launched a $100 million stimulus program in August 2021 as the first step in growing its ecosystem. The current Celo ecosystem is still in its early stages of development. It consists of the following main components:
- the Celo protocol - a proof-of-stake blockchain protocol that uses email addresses and phone numbers as public keys instead of traditional cryptographic hash functions;
- Сelo Dollar (cUSD) - Сelo Dollar (cUSD) - a stablecoin, pegged to the US dollar (USD) and backed by a reserve of crypto assets;
- Celo Developer Wallet allows you to transfer, receive and exchange tokens for cUSD and CELO tokens by using decentralized phone number verification.
Celo is promoted and preserved by separate organizations. The Platform Trust Fund — a non-profit organization. It was launched simultaneously with the main network, and Celo Alliance for Prosperity is an ecosystem of organizations that share a common mission.
Blockchain highlights
Celo's mission - to enable 6 billion smartphone users worldwide to take advantage of blockchain technology and stablecoins. To achieve this goal, they have formed a strong alliance that will help them to develop, collaborate and secure new financial services applications. In recent months, they have launched a second integration with tBTC. tBTC, which has already enabled bitcoin holders to earn through DeFi applications on the Ethereum blockchain, can also provide secure access to the Celo platform. Project highlights:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Stable currency | The project supports various stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar, making it convenient to use Celo as a payment method. |
| Phone number accounts | Celo maintains a secure hierarchical phone number map, enabling wallet users to send and receive money easily using their existing contacts. |
| Transaction fees | Users can pay transaction fees in any stable currency, eliminating the need to manage balances in multiple currencies. |
Even for wallet users with low bandwidth, high latency or huge data transfer rates, it provides extremely fast and secure synchronization between mobile devices. The Celo protocol encourages mobile devices to run full nodes regularly. The protocol offers fast upgrades and protocol upgrades through on-chain governance that is open to all cryptocurrency holders. The blockchain is fully compatible with the EVM, it has a programmable smart contract platform that is fully compatible with Ethereum. This allows Celo to provide end-to-end functionality to users while supporting a diverse ecosystem of third-party apps and extensions in a timely manner.
Celo token and cUSD
CELO has a fixed supply, and its fluctuations are related to the total value of the stablecoins, circulating in the Celo ecosystem. The CELO coin also plays an important role in stabilizing the platform. This helps to keep prices as close to the target as possible by adjusting the circulating supply of stablecoins. Celo's global team of over 100 professionals includes experts from the public and private sectors, technology, non-profits and non-governmental organizations. The economic model of the platform is based on the following two tokens:
- CЕLO - the main coin with a fixed supply of one billion tokens. The token helps to pay fees and gives users the ability to vote on community ideas. It is also necessary for the issuance of stablecoins;
- Сelo USD (cUSD) - a dollar stablecoin, backed by Celo's internal dollar reserves. Users can freely convert CELO to cUSD and vice versa. In order to mint cUSD, the platform freezes the corresponding amount of CELO tokens, so that the price of CELO is directly linked to the demand for cUSD.
To complete the transaction, you must pay a "gas" fee, which can be paid with any of the available Celo tokens. This eliminates the need to always have a CELO reserve. The first stablecoin on the platform is cUSD, but it is not the only one. Сelo uses proof of ownership (proof-of-stake) to ensure security. In addition, it has a rather complicated election process to determine the validators of the blockchain. Token holders can use their assets to participate in elections where it is necessary to vote for groups of validators.
