Celo is a blockchain-based platform that has the aim of building “a financial system that creates the conditions for prosperity for everyone”. The blockchain is designed primarily for mobile usage. It hopes to capitalize on the growing mobile economies, namely the $87B digital remittance market, $248B gig economy, as well as the $1.4T mobile POS market, and more. It also has the secondary aim of making DeFi more accessible to the more than 6 billion smartphones being used globally.

In particular, it hopes to simplify the process of entering the blockchain space by enabling users with just a mobile number to join the Celo ecosystem. As such, Celo’s technology facilitates the cheap, fast and efficient circulation of both native and non-native digital assets, including crypto and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) across mobile devices, networks, and countries.

The Celo Mainnet was launched in 2020 and its ecosystem has grown to support over 1000 projects across more than 100 countries across the globe. CUSD, Celo Dollars, is a stablecoin that is pegged 1:1 to the USD. It can be used like other stablecoins, for example, sending money around the globe, paying for everyday items, as well as borrowing funds. It is collateralized by crypto and also natural assets.

The CELO token is the platform’s native utility token. It can be used to take part in network governance as well as for paying Celo network transaction fees. It also functions as the primary asset to stabilize and support the platform’s stablecoins, such as cUSD and cEUR.

What are Celo Dollar’s key features and how does it work?

The CELO ecosystem is made up of the Celo blockchain and Celo Core Contracts. The blockchain allows applications to run smart contracts and perform transactions in a decentralized manner. In order to deliver its goals, Celo uses an altered version of the popular Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

What is noteworthy about Celo?

The Celo network takes a community-approach to blockchain technology as it hopes to establish “conditions for prosperity for everyone”. As such, Celo routinely collaborates with projects that share its mission statement and goals. This includes focusing on technologies that can help to build and grow local communities, for example, supporting local commerce and local economies. Many apps have also been built on Celo that support or promote Universal Basic Income. This includes GoodDollar, Moola, and Aave.

Celo is also the first carbon-negative blockchain, and it regularly implements programs and forms partnerships with the aims of raising awareness about global climate change and the environment. This includes The Climate Collective, a collaboration of companies that seek to use web3 technologies to tackle climate change. Partners of the scheme include Green Wold, Kolektivo, Moss and many others.

How can CUSD be used?

The Celo Dollar is the first stable asset of the Celo network. It is pegged to the value of the USD 1:1. It was created to serve as an everyday digital payment method and is built specifically with ease of use and accessibility in mind. cUSD has been created to be the main form of payment method across the Celo ecosystem. As such, applications built on top of the Celo Network are compatible with and offer many use cases for cUSD.

This includes:

The MugglePay platform. It offers a payment solution for retailers to accept crypto assets, including cUSD as payment;
The Kotani Pay application. It facilitates loans to users who are unable to access credit history or receive loans via traditional banking methods;
Air Protocol. It enables users to send and receive cUSD across the globe without high transaction fees.

Where can you buy CUSD?

CUSD is available for trading on the following CEXs and DEXs listed here. The most popular platforms with the highest liquidity are Bittrex, Gate.io, and KuCoin. The price of CUSD will vary depending on the choice of exchange and overall market conditions. For up-to-date and historic data for CUSD market price, please view the price charts on this page.