What is Celo ?
Celo is an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone.
Its motto is in similar terms like libra to serve the unbanked amd have a fairer economy.The project may help in reducing global inequality.
It's a competition to upcoming Libra project by facebook. In facebook the governance will be mostly managed by top corporate companies but in Celo community can also take part though it has also some big companies mostly crypto and blockchain related as alliance called alliance for prosperity.
As ethos of decentralisation are more in Celo compared to Facebook's Libra It has higher chance of success in long run. Though a lot will depend on development and funding too where facebook do have some upperhand. Let's the best project win.
Celo is conducting token sale in dutch auction format in Coinlist.
Celo
When will auction happen?
Auction will happen on 11th May in Coinlist. It has previously done a successful auctiom of Solana blockchain. Solana is now listed in Binance.
Solana auction result
Is there KYC ?
Yes an online based KYC is needed to take part in dutch auction type token sale.
1- Scan of your ID card or passport etc
2- Your selfie
The kyc process is automatic and online through there software and it took me just minutes to get approved. Just keep your ID card with you.
Minimum amount to invest ?
Minimum amount to invest is 100 USD.
How it's different from Facebook Libra ?
The governance will be done by community and it will be fully decentralised in nature unlilke Libra where major validators were big corporates who have business interests and make the system centralised.
Everyone will get a fair chance in the token sale and become an early adopter.
The Celo wallet is already launched with test tokens and by using it i feel its very easy to use and has a very good interface.
What is Celo Gold cGLD?
It has fixed supply and price will resemble according to demand and supply. You will get cGLD in the dutch auction type token sale. It will be used for governance and other utilities such as fixing the price of cUSD equal to USD.
A comparable protocol is Maker's Dai stable coin. Dai is backbone of Ethereum Defi movement.
What is Celo Stable coin cUSD ?
cUSD is a stable coin which will be pegged to USD.
It will be the main digital currency powering all economy though with time other country specific stable currencies may be issued ,such as if more adoption happens in India ,some may propose a cINR pegged to Indian national rupee and if accepted , cINR token may be launched in celo blockchain.
The good thing about Celo is it's asset will be backed by crypto assets unlike Libra which was trying use USD and other real assets likd bonds which created regulatory hurdles for them and also thought that it may be threat to economy.
Alliance for prosperity
Following companies h joined the Celo alliance
Abra, Alice, AlphaWallet, Anchorage, Appen, Ayannah, Andreessen Horowitz, B12, BC4NB (Blockchain for the Next Billion), BeamAndGo, Bidali, Bison Trails, Blockchain Academy Mexico, Blockchain.com, Blockchain for Humanity (b4h), Blockchain for Social Impact (BSIC), Blockdaemon, Carbon, cLabs, CloudWalk Inc, Cobru, Coinbase, Coinplug, Cryptio, Cryptobuyer, CryptoSavannah, eSolidar, Fintech4Good, Flexa, Gitcoin, GiveDirectly, Grameen Foundation, GSMA, KeshoLabs, Laboratoria, Ledn, Maple, Mercy Corps, Metadium, Moon, MoonPay, Pipol, Pngme, Polychain, Project Wren, SaldoMX, Semicolon Africa, The Giving Block, Utrust, Upright, Yellow Card, and 88i, Ledger.
Should you buy cGLD tokens in auction ?
The buzz of this project is very high.The previous project solana also was a huge success.All known and big and reputed companies are associated with the project.
The android app is already available and i like its user interface and simplicity.
They have linked the crypto address to mobile numbers making onboardimg easier for non crypto folks as its similar to any payment apps we use such as paypal,paytm,phonepe,cashapp etc.
This looks to me a great project , though you should do your own research before putting your money. There may be a vesting period and tokens may not unlocked or tradable just after the auction ,so do thorough research on your own.
Minimum amount to invest is 100 USD. You can invest through majpr crypto like bitcoin, ethereum , USDC stable coin etc.
All crypto will be converted to USDC so you can directly invest with USDC to save some transaction charges which may get lost due to crypto to crypto stable coin conversion.
Conclusion
As Big corporations crypto projects like Facebook's Libra and Telegram's TON has stepped in to limbo. Celo looks a great alternative with less regulatory hurdle and a more decentralised project which may become successful in long run.
Let me tell in comments , what you think about this project.