Global payment solution Celo, which is competing with Libra, has members of the Libra Association involved!?

Five members of the Libra Association, including Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, have joined the "Celo Alliance for Prosperity" in hopes of building decentralized mobile applications for global payments using Celo's blockchain platform and stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

The Dark Horse in the Global Payment Arena

The open-source project Celo is currently in the testing phase and plans to officially launch its mainnet in April. The non-profit organization, founded in 2017, has raised $36.4 million, including $15 million from Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Crypto in a Series A funding to purchase Celo Gold tokens.

Celo will issue a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar - Celo Dollar, but will use cryptocurrency assets as collateral, a concept similar to the decentralized stablecoin Dai currently in the market. Chuck Kimble, Head of Business Development and Alliance at Celo's cLabs, stated that this approach can alleviate regulatory concerns about impacting the global financial system. Additionally, Celo Dollar will be issued in the U.S., but the alliance's focus for future issuance will be Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

One of the key differences between Celo and other blockchains is that payments with Celo Dollar can be sent by entering the recipient's phone number, eliminating the need to input complex address codes. This mechanism significantly enhances usability for the general public. Currently, the platform's first decentralized application, Celo Wallet, is available for use on iOS and Android.

Response from Over 50 Alliance Members

Celo Prosperity Alliance members include 50 companies such as Carbon, GiveDirectly, Grameen Foundation, Maple, and Polychain. Among them, five companies - Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, Bison Trails, Anchorage, and Mercy Corps - are also members of the Libra Association. Alliance members will support project development, build infrastructure, expand use cases, and integrate Celo assets into their projects. Alliance Head Chuck Kimble stated:

"Anyone can apply to join the open network without the $10 million membership requirement like Libra."

Below is the complete list of members dedicated to achieving these goals:

Many organizations among the members operate globally, enabling Celo to provide services to those underserved by the global financial system. Katie Haun, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, stated:

"We hope this partnership will start to unlock the potential of internet money. To drive adoption, the alliance will distribute 'prosperity gifts' to businesses that promote Celo products and benefit the public through financial grants."

Celo claims that 130 companies or organizations have expressed interest in building on the Celo platform. Previously, Libra also revealed that 1,500 businesses or organizations expressed interest in connecting with the project. The question remains whether these two blockchain projects focusing on global payments can succeed and which one will emerge as a leader in revolutionizing the payment sector, let us witness together.

Related Reading

• Bloomberg: Libra May Shift to Support Multiple Digital Currencies to Gain Regulatory Approval
• Mastercard's Strong Criticism: National Payment Systems Will Not Succeed, Libra Will Not Make Money

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