2022 is touted as the year of the altcoins, as many crypto analysts predict the cryptocurrencies to excel this year. Since January, altcoins have started to pull their weights together, and investors have also begun to reap the rewards. Ethereum has picked up from where it stopped last year as the leading altcoin continues to enjoy immense growth. Alternatively, altcoins like LBlock, Stellar Lumen, and Aave are already posting gains this year, as investors expect more. This means that the global adoption of crypto assets will continue to rise this year. Another implication is that, while Bitcoin continues to make headlines, crypto investors can shift their focus a bit from it. However, Celo has been one of the cryptocurrencies delighting investors for the last few weeks. The cryptocurrency is currently on a bull run and jumped by 30% 2 weeks ago.
What is Celo Crypto?
As its name sounds, Celo is a blockchain that tends to increase crypto adoption amongst smartphone users. It is an open platform supporting various services, including distributed applications, smart contract development, and global payments. Celo’s aim is for its users to enjoy financial services by transacting to and from any phone number. Users appreciate these services on Celo by using their email addresses and phone numbers as public keys. Celo also acts as a global payment infrastructure for cryptocurrencies targetting these mobile phone users. The project’s founding members consist of individuals from Visa, Twitter, Bank of America, Gates Foundation, etc. However, Rene Reinsberg and Marek Olszewski, former executives at GoDaddy, are the project’s recognized founders.
The project launched a mainnet in 2020, three years after both engineers co-founded it. Apart from payment services, Celo also provides a platform for developing decentralized applications on its blockchain. The network also allows the creation of smart contracts. This is because it prides itself as a core participant in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. To run, Celo utilizes CELO and three other stablecoins: Celo Dollars (cUSD), Celo Euro (CEUR), and Celo Brazilian Real (CREAL). CELO is a proof-of-stake governance asset for voting and proposing changes to the protocol by its holders. Alternatively, cUSD, CEUR, and CREAL are stablecoins that mirrors the value of their respective fiat currency.
How Does Celo Work?
The network relies on Lights Clients, Validator Nodes, and Full Nodes to make Celo work as its core contributors. Light Clients are the network’s applications running on its user’s mobile devices. An example of such an application is the Celo mobile wallet. Validator Nodes are computers that fully contribute to and participate in the network’s consensus mechanism. They also validate transactions and create new blocks. Lastly, Full nodes are computers that bridge the divide between Validator Nodes and mobile wallets.
These nodes take requests from light clients and forward transactions to validator nodes. CELO holders are in charge of voting in Validator nodes. Celo also relies on the Proof of Stake governance mechanism called the Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT). The network uses BFT to keep its distributed network of computers in synchronization. To become a validator node, users must stake 10,000 CELO tokens. According to the design of the network, they can only be 100 validators at one time. These validators each receive rewards from a portion of the block reward for validating the transactions. However, full nodes also receive rewards from fees given out by light clients.
Why Is Celo Unique?
Celo prides itself as a blockchain network that utilizes user email addresses or phone numbers as public keys for transactions. Its selling point is also that it focuses mainly on smartphone users. The network claims that the increasing number of smartphone users without cryptocurrency knowledge is alarming. However, creating a service that leverages both technologies believes it is solving a future problem. This is why Celo is bridging the massive gap between them and increasing the global adoption of cryptocurrencies. The protocol’s uniqueness also helps users by harnessing the benefits of DeFi, as it also supports the creation of DApps and smart contracts. Another unique feature of Celo is how the blockchain automatically calculates transaction fees. This allows users to pay transaction fees for the service in any currency.
Enter The CELO Token
CELO is an ERC-20 token and the native token of the Celo network. It is also a utility token with uses across governance and network security and used for network payments. Token holders can vote on network governance decisions via staking. This means that they can use their assets to participate in elections by voting for groups of validators. Holders can also stake the token to secure the network and participate in consensus while earning rewards. Alternatively, the token also covers payment for on-chain transactions in the network. Holders will need the Celo Developer Wallet to send, receive, and swap CELO using decentralized phone number verification.
At launch, 600 million tokens were available to users. The developer plan to release the remaining 40% supply via fees and rewards. The developers also reserve about 120 million tokens that will go towards a reserve designed to maintain CUSD. This reserve will maintain the validity and price stability of CUSD and other stablecoins in the network. The token has a circulating supply of 433,213,075 coins and a maximum supply of 1,000,000,000 coins. The token is available for purchase and trading on many exchanges, including Coinbase, Bittrex, Binance, and DigiFinex.
How To Buy CELO Crypto on Coinbase
Since September 3, 2020, CELO has been available for purchase and trading on Coinbase. However, listed below are the five steps to buying the token on Coinbase;
Step 1 – Sign Up
Signing up on Coinbase is the first for new users. You will have to download the Coinbase app or use the exchange’s website. This process is usually seamless and complete after supplying a few KYC details. You will also need to verify the information you provided. It is worth noting that only verified accounts will have access to the Coinbase trading platform. However, existing users will only need to log in to their accounts.
Step 2 – Fund Your Account
After creating an account or logging in, you will need to fund your Coinbase account. This will enable the purchase of CELO to be very seamless. Funding is straightforward, and with either a bank transfer or any compatible debit/credit card, your account now has funds.
Step 3 – Purchase CELO Crypto
After funding, you can then purchase your CELO tokens. Click on trade, select CELO from the search bar items, and enter the amount you want to buy. You will then review and confirm the amount and make payments for it. The new assets will automatically reflect on your account, and you can decide to either hold, trade, or sell them. You will also need to ensure that you have a wallet, enabling you to store it securely.
Should I Invest In CELO crypto?
CELO has gone up by 30% in the past week, a testament to the rapid growth of the network and the token. Like other large-scale projects, incentives are often vital to the development roadmap. And the project’s recent commitment to $20 million seems to be giving it all the attention it requires. Another angle to look at is the problem Celo network is solving, which is increasingly attracting investors to the token. The past week has seen the token rise in value by at least 30%, and it looks like it won’t stop soon. This is because smartphone usage will continue to increase globally, and more people getting interested in cryptocurrency.
According to CoinMarketCap, the token’s recent dominance ranks it among the top 70 best in the crypto market. Its average 24hour trading volume is now around $241 million, and its market cap is $3,757,737,142.99. Its current price of $3.97 is still far from the ATH price of $10.66 it traded seven months ago. However, with current metrics and indices, the token looks like it will enjoy another stellar year. WalletInvestor thinks the token will end the year on $4.13, giving investors at least 50% ROI. WalletInvestor also believes that, despite a rise in demand, the token might not hit $10 until 2027.
Digital Coin believes that the token will give investors about 33% ROI and trade at $3.95 by December 2022. Digital Coin’s long-term prediction of CELO is for the token to hit $5.63 in 2025 and $13.7 in 2030. However, the most optimistic of these analysts is PricePrediction, which believes that CELO will go beyond expectations in the coming years. PricePrediction sees CELO as a long-term investment that will peak at $53 in 2030. The crypto analysts believe that investors willing to put funds on CELO have to wait long on the token.
Conclusion
Celo is an open platform supporting various services, including distributed applications, smart contract development, and global payments. Its aim is for its users to enjoy financial service by transacting to and from any smartphone using blockchain. These users enjoy these services on Celo by using their email addresses and phone numbers as public keys. CELO is its governance and native token used in securing the network. It is available for purchase and trading in many exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Bitfinex. The token is up by 30% this week alone, and crypto analysts are optimistic about its future. Many crypto analysts believe it will bring huge ROI this year. Whether or not it happens, only time will tell.
