Protocol Highlight: Celo Foundation

Welcome to the protocol highlight of the month.

At Artemis, we aim to bring light to crypto and highlight real businesses in crypto.®

Today, we interview Isha Varshney, Head of Ecosystem at Celo, stewarding the emerging Ethereum Layer-2 and mobile-first blockchain network.

Read more to learn about Celo’s story, exciting dApps on Celo, and what led to the run-up in Celo’s stablecoin volume.

Hi Isha! What is your role at Celo? How did you learn about Celo and decide to join Celo?

I’m the Head of Ecosystem at the Celo Foundation, the non-profit organization that stewards the emerging Ethereum Layer-2 and mobile-first Celo blockchain network. In my role, I support the projects currently building on Celo and lead strategy and business development with mission-aligned teams to grow the ecosystem of 1,000 projects in 150+ countries. 

I am qualified as a Chartered Accountant and before Celo worked extensively in traditional finance from PE to M&A. These roles helped develop my deep understanding of finance and money infrastructure. However, growing up in emerging markets (across Africa and India) and having worked at fintech organizations operating in the Global South has also developed my fundamental belief that technology can play a pivotal role in shaping and reshaping financial models in these markets - especially since they don't have legacy systems to overcome.   The beliefs and understandings I gained from my work in TradFi and separately from living and working in emerging markets converged when I first heard about blockchain technology. It was clear that this is the tech to simplify the process for money movement and increase financial accessibility worldwide. From there I looked for organizations in the space with proven commitment to emerging markets, and Celo was the perfect fit.

What is the original story of Celo? How has it changed over time, and why?

Celo was born when founders Rene Reinsberg, Marek Olszewski, and Sep Kamvar recognized there was no easy, accessible global payment system for crypto. In the process of creating “crypto’s answer to Venmo”, it became clear that no blockchain in existence at that time could support fast, low-cost global crypto transactions. This is why they pivoted to create the mobile-first EVM-compatible blockchain that exists today. 

Since it’s a community-governed protocol, of course, many changes have taken place since the mainnet launched on Earth Day 2020. From the first governance proposal to offset all carbon emissions to the introduction of Ultragreen Tokenomics with the Gingerbread Hardfork last September, the network and ecosystem have matured tremendously over the past four years. 

But the biggest change is definitely the migration to an Ethereum Layer-2! Last year at EthCC, core contributors cLabs proposed migrating from the existing EVM-compatible Layer-1 to an Ethereum Layer-2. Since Celo was initially forked from Ethereum, and always maintained close EVM-compatibility, we were never far from the Ethereum ecosystem. However, Celo’s particular use cases, especially in emerging markets, are dependent on core advantages like sub-cent transaction fees and fast transaction speeds. Returning home to Ethereum was not possible without sacrificing those advantages until last year with the advent of scaling solutions like EigenDA. This led to cLabs’ proposal, which was met with outsized support from the Celo community and broader blockchain ecosystem. After months of research, testing, and community governance to align on key infrastructure like leveraging OP Stack, the Dango testnet is now live.

What are the most unique ways users are using Celo that make Celo different?

I think most Celo users are not your typical current Web3 user. A majority of the users are not degens and likely not plugged into the memecoin or even DeFi culture. Most Celo users are entirely new to Web3, and incorporating decentralized applications built on

the Celo network into their everyday lives - a true testament to the dedication of builders to creating real-world solutions.

As a quick example is Samira, a chicken farmer in Makadara whose loan from Jia’s pool on Huma helped grow her business. Testimonials like that are a great reminder of how the Celo ecosystem is working to deliver on crypto’s potential to increase access to financial tools for all. 

What are some exciting applications built on Celo? What applications or initiatives are you most excited about on Celo?

All of the applications building on Celo are interesting of course, and we’re lucky to have so many smart, talented developers bringing their visions to life on Celo. From my personal background in traditional finance and fintech, I will say that the advancements being made by RWA projects on Celo are particularly exciting to me. The strides that Untangled Finance, Centrifuge, Haraka, and more are making to create a more efficient and accessible financial system with Web3 technology are energizing for sure. 

Why should developers build on Celo?

Developers building on Celo are in great company—they work alongside some of the smartest and most hardworking teams in the industry that are all dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing challenges with blockchain technology. If you’re looking for a mission-aligned ecosystem and collaborative environment, look no further than Celo. 

Additionally, core contributors cLabs are continually updating the infrastructure with a commitment to technical excellence. From the mobile-first infrastructure and SocialConnect primitives that reduce complexity by enabling mobile phone numbers as wallet addresses to the sub-cent transaction costs, Celo is built with accessibility at its core. As a result, projects have wider distribution channels and more opportunity to make direct impact on everyday lives of users.

How should institutional investors think about the tokenomics and business model for Celo?

I may be biased but from a tokenomics perspective, the Celo chain is extremely undervalued. It’s one of the fastest-growing chains from a daily user perspective, onboarding thousands of net new users to Web3 on a weekly basis through applications like MiniPay.   

If I had to explain Celo’s business model at its core, its sustainable growth driven by a focus on real world use cases in emerging markets. Given our global ecosystem and reach, this year in particular we are doubling down on stablecoins and RWAs as key growth drivers. Native deployments of both USDC and USDT are prime examples within the past six months of this plan in action.

Congrats on the recent increase in Celo stablecoin volumes! What drove the increase in volume, in your view?

Thank you! A large part of the increased stablecoin volume can be attributed to the growth of users on MiniPay. For those unfamiliar, MiniPay is a self-custodial stablecoin wallet built by Opera on Celo. It’s integrated 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 transactions and seamless swapping with both USDT and USDC, supplementing the existing use of Mento’s cUSD. 

Mento’s Stablecoin Summer campaign has also been exciting and a driver of increased stablecoin transactions, with their local stable asset launches like the Kenyan Shilling bringing more accessibility and use cases for stables.

What’s something most people misunderstand about Celo? / What’s something about Celo that surprises people the most?

Metrics are often seen as a one-size-fits-all approach, a way to measure each network 1:1 without consideration of each ecosystem’s mission and goals. Driving real-world solutions for everyday users, many of whom are in emerging markets where crypto has the most potential to solve pressing issues, has specific measurements. 

Microloans, 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 worldwide, and the way to measure that success is through Daily Active Users (DAUs) since these are not significantly high volume transactions. From a chain-agnostic perspective, this is a good reminder to consider all of the ways that we can track how a project is delivering on its mission - since each network has its own unique purpose.

How does Celo use or hope to use Artemis?

Data-driven metrics are crucial to measuring success and identifying where we can grow - exactly why Artemis is such an important partner to the Celo ecosystem. We’ll use Artemis to track the growth of key metrics like DAUs and stablecoin volume, and also look in-depth to identify any blindspots that might exist. 

Key Metrics Dive: Celo

Andrew here, data scientist at Artemis! You can also find me on X here

Celo has seen an explosion of daily active addresses (DAA) since March and is not on par with Ethereum, with around ~370k DAA. 

The rise in activity is largely driven by stablecoin usage, with Opera’s MiniPay driving a significant amount of volume. Daily transaction count has increased over 6x since the start of the year and stablecoin transactions across all sizes have increased indicating a wide array of users on the product. 

Celo is an ideal platform for stablecoin payments, given its very low average transaction fee. Looking at average transaction fees over the past month, Celo was the lowest of layer 1s Artemis tracks. Celo’s ability to pas gas in stablecoins is also beneficial for users that want flexibility in how they transact on the blockchain. 

Thanks for reading! Want to connect with Isha at Celo? Feel free to email us at [email protected], and we'd be happy to introduce you.

Artemis Disclaimer: The authors, affiliates, or stakeholders of Artemis may hold interests in the tokens or protocols mentioned in this content. This disclosure highlights potential conflicts of interest and is not an endorsement to buy or invest in any specific token or protocol. The content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice in any form.

Readers should approach this information cautiously and consider their unique circumstances before making investment decisions. The views and opinions expressed are subject to change without notice, and Artemis bears no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this information.