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Celo

7 pools·$6.1M TVL·2 protocols
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About Celo

A mobile-first Ethereum L2 optimized for stablecoin payments in emerging markets.

Celo migrated from a standalone Layer 1 to an Ethereum L2 in March 2025 using the OP Stack, and later activated ZK fault proofs via OP Succinct Lite. It hosts Mento's native dollar and euro stablecoins (cUSD, cEUR), phone-number address discovery, and lets users pay gas in stablecoins instead of ETH. Its ecosystem is heavily weighted toward remittances and payments rather than speculative DeFi.

  • TVL around $150M in mid-2026 per DeFiLlama; the active-user story is stronger than the TVL story.
  • Migrated to Ethereum L2 via OP Stack in March 2025; ZK fault-proofs via OP Succinct Lite (Jello Hardfork) are on the roadmap — verify current status against Celo's official changelog.
  • Uses EigenDA for data availability rather than posting all data to Ethereum blobs, keeping fees very low.
  • Reported #1 daily active users among Ethereum L2s in early 2026, driven by MiniPay (11M+ wallets) and mobile-first stablecoin flows.
  • Native gas payable in stablecoins (cUSD, USDC, USDT) rather than ETH — one of the few L2s with this feature.

Frequently asked questions

Is Celo now an Ethereum L2?

Yes. As of March 2025, Celo is an OP Stack rollup that posts state to Ethereum. Existing contracts and accounts carried over from the L1 without user action required. ZK fault proofs via OP Succinct Lite are on the roadmap — check Celo's official changelog for the current status.

Why is Celo different from other L2s?

Two things: gas paid in stablecoins (so users never need ETH to transact), and heavy focus on mobile-first remittance flows via MiniPay and other consumer wallets. It skews toward emerging-market payment volume rather than large DeFi positions.

What is Mento and how does it work with Celo?

Mento is Celo's native stablecoin protocol, issuing dollar, euro, and other currency-pegged tokens (cUSD, cEUR, etc.) using a reserve-backed mint-and-burn mechanism. It is the main source of onchain stablecoin liquidity on Celo, alongside bridged USDC and USDT.