Celo at Six: The Most Widely Adopted Blockchain for Stablecoins

Hi 👋

Six years ago today, Celo mainnet launched on Earth Day as an EVM-compatible blockchain with an ambitious mission: to create the conditions of prosperity for all. The network was born out of a need to build borderless financial systems accessible to anyone with a smartphone ––leveraging blockchain rails to break down barriers between people around the world and deliver a new regenerative onchain economy. 

Today, Celo is the most widely adopted blockchain for stablecoins worldwide, with over 1.27B+ lifetime transactions, 25 native stablecoins, and millions of USD₮ users. Celo consistently leads as the #1 Ethereum Layer 2 by Daily Active Users (DAUs), reaching a peak of 840K DAUs. For context: that’s more people using the network in a single day than the entire population of San Francisco––also, our home base. 

MiniPay, the self-custodial stablecoin wallet built by Opera, is a core driver of this growth with 14M+ users and over 400M transactions processed on Celo. In celebration of the anniversary, MiniPay launched 16% cashback rewards for users who buy CELO in the wallet via Squidrouter’s “Buy CELO” Mini App.

Opera also announced up to $1M in CELO for Mini App builders, growing the ecosystem of 50+ integrated applications, rewarding for the real impact and adoption of their applications.

In many ways, Celo and its globally diverse ecosystem stand in a league of their own, setting the groundwork for accessibility and frontier tech with key features like stablecoin gas payments and phone number mapping that many have since tried to replicate.

A few comparisons help capture the sheer magnitude of what the ecosystem has accomplished:

• $65B+ Stablecoin Volume Since the L2 Migration – Celo has processed more in stablecoin transactions than the GDP of Iceland.

• 99.8% Reduction in Security Costs Post-L2 Migration – Equivalent to going from illuminating an entire theatre to a single seat. It’s the same show, at a fraction of the cost.

• #1 Transport Layer for USD₮ by Weekly Active Users – Outpacing Tron, an incumbent with earlier integration. It’s David and Goliath, measured in active addresses.

• 25 Native Stablecoins: On Par with PayPal, Not Any Other Blockchain – PayPal supports 25 currencies after 25 years of operations. Celo integrated 25 stablecoins in just six. 

• 1.27B+ Lifetime Transactions – Nearly as many transactions as there are cars on the road. Except these aren’t sitting in traffic, thanks to Celo’s one-second block time.

MiniPay’s accelerated adoption has also been a defining driver of the ecosystem’s growth over the past year. 

• 14M+ Users in 66+ Countries – If every MiniPay user held hands, they’d stretch from New York to Lagos and back, twice.

• 400M+ Stablecoin Transactions on MiniPay Alone – Roughly one transaction for every person living in the United States, all within a single app. 

The drive to accelerate growth extended to Celo's core contributing organizations. CELOMorphosis brought cLabs and the Celo Foundation together as one unified entity, Celo Core Co., to ship more quickly, streamline overhead, and enhance value accrual.

Last week's CELOccelerate tokenomics upgrade passed with the community's unanimous approval following months of forum discussions, governance calls, and working sessions — evolving Celo's network economics to capture more value from the network's growing usage. In the week since, network revenue has increased 66.6%, while transaction costs remain sub-cent.

Our proof of impact isn't just in the metrics. It's in the real users transacting on Celo every day, many of whom are being introduced to blockchain rails for the first time as a better way to send, spend, and save money. The year ahead will unlock new partnerships, integrations, and initiatives purpose-built to scale the real adoption of Celo worldwide.

So, Happy Birthday, Celo. Thank you to everyone who has built, scaled, and used the network so far. We've come so far, but we're still in the early innings.