Celo Foundation

Four years ago today, Celo mainnet launched on Earth Day 2020. Now, with 370M+ transactions and over 1,000 projects in more than 150 countries, the Celo ecosystem is thriving––as Web3’s home of regenerative finance (ReFi) and a leader in real-world assets (RWAs), notably stablecoins such as Celo-native USDC, USDT, and various Mento local currencies––and building for the real world. To mark the network’s milestone occasion, core contributors at @cLabs propose migrating Celo from a mobile-first, EVM-compatible Layer 1 to an Ethereum Layer 2 (“CEL2”) leveraging OP Stack, following a unanimous community vote in favor of the transition last year. By building on the OP Stack, Celo’s Ethereum L2 will maintain key features of Celo’s L1 including the ability to send money to a phone number, email address, or other social identifier via SocialConnect, and maintaining low gas fees to ensure greater accessibility and adoption of crypto around the world. cLabs will aim to build CEL2 with the OP Stack following a forthcoming community vote, with testnet deployment anticipated as early as Summer 2024. But that’s not all! To celebrate Earth Day, Celo’s mainnet anniversary, and the historic CEL2 proposal, there will be a series of NFT drops on the Celosphere marketplace, built by @Rarible, starting with a free, limited-edition CEL2 NFT on https://celosphere.xyz/ To learn more about cLabs’ proposal and this week’s activations and events, visit our blog post below:  https://lnkd.in/e6bb3kkR

Today, the Celo Foundation is proud to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Peng as Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this role, Liz will lead and operationalize Vision 2030, advancing adoption and growth across the Celo blockchain: bringing more people onchain, scaling impact use cases, and expanding the world’s onchain economy. Since joining the Foundation in 2022, Liz has been instrumental in shaping Celo’s global narrative and amplifying the voices of builders and mission-aligned partners. Most recently, as Head of Marketing and Communications, she guided Celo’s positioning during its milestone transition to an Ethereum Layer 2. Now as COO, Liz will oversee the Foundation’s day-to-day operations, supporting execution across our growing network of builders, partners, and community members. “I’m excited for this next chapter for the Celo Foundation with Liz’s critical support and guidance,” said Rene Reinsberg, Celo Foundation President & Co-Founder. “Her ability to combine strategic vision with operational discipline makes her the ideal leader to help guide the Foundation through this next phase of growth and impact.” For more information, visit our blog post: https://bit.ly/45XKmgJ For Liz’s reflections on her journey at the Celo Foundation to date, and insights into her plans for the new role, read her Celo Community Forum post: https://lnkd.in/eQR5HPx3

Celo Foundation, the Ethereum L2 built for the real world and designed for fast, low-cost transactions worldwide, is live on Eco Routes and the Eco Portal. Any Celo app that integrates Eco Routes can enable stablecoin transfers across 9 major chains: https://lnkd.in/eJFfgZV7

The internet today lacks identity verification processes that can both protect users, especially children, from dangerous content and safeguard individuals' data privacy and ownership. Zero-knowledge technology presents a solution: allowing users to confirm their unique attributes (age, nationality, humanity, etc.) without sharing their private information. Self co-founder Rene Reinsberg and Arktouros, LLC's Jane Khodarkovsky wrote an op-ed for The Hill to call broader attention to this global issue and shed light on ZK's power to solve it. Read "How zero-knowledge tools can help us verify age and protect privacy online," to learn more:

Today, we’re proud to share that Google Cloud is integrating with Self’s proof-of-humanity ZKPs to bring new use cases powering AI adoption & Web3 innovation for human users. Through this partnership, Google Cloud will integrate the Self Protocol with new AI search tools in Google Cloud’s Web3 Portal, power sybil resistance for its Testnet Faucet with proof-of-humanity ZKPs, and provide OFAC sanctions-screening proofs for its pioneering Mainnet Faucet. Self uses zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to ensure that no one—not even protocol developers—can access users’ private data. By leveraging zk-SNARKs, users can prove humanity and selectively disclose attributes (like age) without revealing sensitive details (like date of birth). No data is ever stored, making it impossible to leak. Today, Self supports biometric passports from 129 countries and biometric IDs across 27 EU nations, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, Ghana, and Saudi Arabia. “With the proliferation of agentic activity, we’re excited to partner with Self in supporting verified humans across our platform,” says Rich Widmann, Head of Strategy, Web3, Google Cloud. “Self’s technology is seamless and secure, with a team that cares about user protection and privacy, empowering them to disclose only what they want to. We’re excited to explore more opportunities to unlock soon.” “Since launching earlier this year, Self has proven to be superior in technology and accessibility,” says Marek Olszewski, Self Co-Founder. “We are honored that Google chose our SDK to provide secure, privacy-first identity solutions, and to further drive AI and Web3 innovation for real people.” To learn more about the partnership, read the official press release: https://lnkd.in/eTPiwre6 Join Self co-founder Rene Reinsberg and Google Cloud Head of Strategy, Web3, Rich Widmann for an X Space where they’ll discuss their joint vision for applying zk-technology to drive Web3 innovation and AI adoption this Friday, July 25, at 1:30pm ET/10:30am PT: https://lnkd.in/esbJcP2M To verify your identity seamlessly and securely, you can download Self from the iOS and Google Play stores: iOS: https://lnkd.in/eykB6pNi Google Play: https://lnkd.in/eqEtJtDD

The Celo Foundation is excited to share that MiniPay, the non-custodial stablecoin wallet built on Celo by Opera, is now live as a standalone app for Android and iOS users in 50+ countries! Launched in September 2023 within the Opera Mini browser, MiniPay has exceeded 7 million activated wallets throughout Africa, introducing users to the benefits of spending, sending, and saving with stablecoins. MiniPay’s intuitive design, near-zero transaction costs, and frictionless transactions have helped onboard users throughout Africa to the world of Web3 while garnering acclaim like the Africa Tech Summit Award for Best Web3 App. In addition to seamless transactions with Tether.io’s USDT, Circle’s USDC, and Mento Labs’ cUSD, MiniPay is home to a growing ecosystem of Mini apps. With over 50 million weekly impressions and 5 million weekly opens, the Mini app ecosystem is a powerful gateway to the new onchain economy. The 15+ applications built for everyday stablecoin use include utility and airtime payment, music streaming, gaming, merchant payment, charitable giving, and more. The launch of MiniPay as a standalone app marks a major milestone in Opera and the Celo Foundation’s ongoing partnership, which began in 2021 with the integration of Celo for Opera browser-native crypto payments. The Celo Foundation is proud to support the Opera MiniPay team and builders throughout the ecosystem as we work together to bring the conditions of prosperity to all. To learn more, read Opera MiniPay's release: https://lnkd.in/eDkQvfvP To download MiniPay, visit: iOS App Store: https://lnkd.in/eejfWeWx Google Play Store: https://lnkd.in/epPFcheR

Next week, Celo Foundation's CFO Nauman Mustafa, CPA joins Hedera's Betsabe Botaitis at the Blockchain 4 Good Virtual Summit to discuss, "A Multifaceted Approach to Financial Inclusion – Transforming Vision into Action." Don't miss the fireside chat, moderated by UKUS Crypto Alliance co-founder Dr. Lisa Cameron, on Tuesday, April 15th at 4:45pm CET! Register today: https://lnkd.in/dqpEvNEV

Earn Yield with Celo Foundation: AAVE Vaults Now Available on vaults.fyi The Celo Layer 2 era is here �� and vaults.fyi is now your front door to earning sustainable, mobile-native yield onchain. Starting today, you can supply USDT, USDC, cUSD, and CELO into Aave vaults on Celo’s new Ethereum L2 — directly through the vaults.fyi interface. Celo brings: 📱 Ultra-low fees & mobile-first infrastructure 🌍 A mission-driven ecosystem focused on real-world access 🔗 Deep integration with Ethereum’s security via the OP Stack This launch expands our reach across the EVM landscape, now including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Avalanche — and Celo. Whether you’re reallocating stablecoins or seeking diversified strategies across chains, vaults.fyi makes it easy to explore and earn with confidence. 👉 Read the full announcement: https://lnkd.in/e3UUjiC5

I'm thrilled to announce that Loop Crypto has launched on the Celo blockchain! This collaboration is particularly exciting given Celo Foundation's commitment to leveraging mobile technology and driving global crypto adoption. Stablecoin usage in emerging markets is accelerating, and Celo stands at the forefront of this movement. By integrating Loop’s payment infrastructure, merchants can now support a variety of payment options on Celo, including subscriptions, one-time payments, and invoicing. For payment processors and platforms embedding Loop’s APIs, this partnership introduces additional low-cost, efficient rails for global fund transfers. We’re also excited to share that Absinthe Labs, Drakkar-Software, BlockPeer, Frenglish, Para, and chainEDGE are already live with Loop, enabling seamless payments on Celo for their services. If you’re a merchant looking to expand your global reach or a payment processor aiming to enhance your international presence, we’d love to hear from you. Together with Celo, we’re unlocking the potential of crypto and stablecoin payments to empower merchants and consumers around the world. Read more below...