What is Celo and what makes it special? (Part 1 of 2)

Welcome to the cryptohunt jam where we spend one minute a day to explain crypto. In plain english.

Today, welcome to part one of our two part series on Celo, a blockchain near to our heart as they are investors in cryptohunt.

The name Celo means "purpose" in Esperanto, and hints at the project's bigger vision. Launched publicly in 2020 after four years of development, the blockchain wants to bring digital money to everyone, regardless of the tech they use or the sophistication of the banking system they live in.

For that, Celo tries to solve two problems: Reduce the technical knowledge typically needed to use crypto, and avoid crypto’s strong value fluctuations. And it does all that while being carbon negative.

So how does it work?

To make Celo easier to use it does something unique: Instead of those complicated wallet addresses and keys you may have seen, wallets on Celo are simply tied to phone numbers or email addresses. Through their app Valora, you can even send money to someone who isn’t on Celo yet by using their phone number and they can claim it later.

Celo’s idea here is: Nobody wants to use something complicated. But If crypto is as easy as Venmo, it’ll reach wide adoption. And it seems to work: There are currently over 600k wallets that use Celo every month.

And that was part one - stay tuned for tomorrow, where we’ll talk about how Celo solves the strong price fluctuations of crypto and why it’s a green alternative to those many energy-hungry blockchains.

Disclaimer: This podcast references our opinion and is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Do your own research and seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.