Learn & Earn with VALR and Celo

In the rapidly evolving landscape of crypto, it’s easy to lose track of novel blockchain innovations. At VALR, we’ve teamed up with Celo to offer some fresh educational insights into the world of DeFi, and the role the Celo project plays within this emerging sector.

To make things a bit more interesting, 2500 CELO tokens will be shared amongst 505 lucky participants. In order to participate, all you’ll need to do is complete the quiz at the end of this article before 23h59 on 12 September. Make sure to use the email address linked to your VALR account to enter.

Read on to learn more about the Celo ecosystem and its unique innovations.

Prize structure

*As of 3 September 2021

The Celo Network

In many ways, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency represent the future of finance and the internet. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most prominent applications of this innovation. The intention was to create a financial system that is decentralised, open, and trustworthy; that connects people all around the world. However, it didn’t take too long to figure out that these financial systems are not easily accessible and too complex for an average person to understand and conveniently utilise for day-to-day transactions.

Celo is an open DeFi platform that makes financial tools available to anyone with a mobile phone. The network has a mobile-first approach with a focus on creating technology stacks that mobile solutions can easily leverage since the majority of the internet users and consumers of created applications are on mobile. An example is Celo’s phone number public key infrastructure (PKI): a lightweight identity protocol that maps cryptographic hashes of phone numbers to public keys—making it easy for anyone with a mobile phone to send and receive digital currencies to anyone in the world, thus allowing over 6 billion smartphone users around the world to easily access and use crypto like a text message. 

Celo is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) platform with a strong validator community that secures and protects the network, an on-chain governance system, and multiple assets launched on the network. The project has an Alliance for Prosperity with over 130+ alliance members and a combined reach of 400m users. Celo plans to promote financial inclusion around the world through its mobile-first approach and leveraging the Celo Alliance for Prosperity.

CELO is the utility and governance asset for the Celo network, which has a fixed supply and variable value. As a CELO holder, you can vote on changes to help shape the direction of the Celo Platform. CELO holders voted for the Donut Hardfork, which enables interoperability with other blockchain networks. This allows Celo to be compatible with Ethereum tools like MetaMask, as Celo shares the same ancestry with Ethereum, making it easy for dApps built on Ethereum to move on the Celo network and enjoy fast and cheap transactions as low as $0.001. Celo has a 5 second block time and, unlike Ethereum, the gas fee of every asset you send on the Celo network is payable in that same currency.

Celo Dollar (cUSD) and Celo Euro (cEUR) are some of the first stablecoins to be launched on the Celo platform; they follow the value of US Dollar and Euro respectively. With the Celo Platform’s near-zero fee and super-fast transactions, cUSD and cEUR allow you to save and share value fast, cheaply, and conveniently on your mobile phone through the Valora app (not to be confused with the VALR app). Valora is a global payments app that runs on the Celo network and is powered by Celo stablecoins. Using Celo’s identity protocol, Valora, users can send money across the world at low fees easily and fast. This solves real-life problems such as cross-border remittance, slow payments, and the high cost of transferring money, which are most prevalent in the developing world.

CELO has a circulating supply of 225.4M and a total supply of 1,000,000,000. Celo has a reserve that helps stabilize the value of the stable assets (cUSD, cEUR, and other upcoming stablecoins) on the network.

Due to its smart contracts feature, Celo supports DeFi innovations. Some of the DeFi solutions currently running on the Celo network include Moola Market, a non-custodial money market protocol built on the Celo blockchain, and Ubeswap, a mobile-first DeFi exchange (DEX).

All decisions are final. The information and views expressed above and in the quiz provided do not constitute financial or trading advice. CELO prize pool provided courtesy of the Celo Foundation.

Register on VALR (if you don’t have an account already) and complete the quiz before 23h59, 12 September to have the chance to win your share of over R200,000*. Follow Celo on Twitter