Latest Celo (CELO) News Update

Deep Dive

1. Tether Integrates USDT into MiniPay (2 February 2026)

Overview: Tether has integrated its USDT and Tether Gold (XAUt0) stablecoins into Opera's MiniPay wallet, which is built on the Celo blockchain. This move targets financial inclusion in over 60 countries across Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. MiniPay reports over 12 million activated wallets and hundreds of millions of transactions, with $153 million sent or received in December 2025 alone. What this means: This is bullish for CELO because it directly drives utility and transaction volume on its network by integrating the world's most-used stablecoin. It strengthens Celo's position as the leading Ethereum L2 for real-world, mobile-first payments. (Decrypt)

2. CEO Outlines Mobile-First Payments Strategy (3 February 2026)

Overview: In a detailed interview, Celo CEO Marek Olszewski emphasized the platform's mobile-first design for peer-to-peer payments in emerging markets. He highlighted key advantages: transaction fees cheaper than Solana, using phone numbers as identifiers, and paying gas with stablecoins. He revealed that MiniPay has "close to 10% of the world population as monthly active users" and that Celo has peaked at 3.3 million weekly active users. What this means: This is neutral-to-bullish for CELO, as it underscores massive adoption and a clear product-market fit. However, Olszewski also noted that creating their own stablecoin protocol "was maybe a mistake," indicating a strategic pivot towards integrating established assets like USDT. (CryptoBriefing)

Conclusion

Celo is successfully executing its vision as a mobile payments layer, evidenced by the landmark Tether integration and explosive user growth, though its native token's value has yet to reflect this adoption. Will the proposed tokenomics overhaul and buyback plan finally bridge this gap between utility and price?

Deep Dive

1. @Celo: Major Tokenomics Upgrade Proposal bullish

"📢 @Celo is sharing a daily highlight this month, featuring key ecosystem metrics from 2025... The local stablecoin economy on Celo grew 37.7%" – @Celo (511K followers · 2025-12-29 09:02 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bullish for CELO because it highlights strong fundamental growth in stablecoin usage, a core metric for its payment-focused network. The context points to a broader "Transformative CELO Token Buyback" proposal from the Celo Foundation in December 2025, which aims to create upward price pressure by reducing circulating supply.

2. @Crypto_Guerrila: Favoring CELO Over POL for Payments bullish

"I loaded up on some $CELO today and yesterday... I like buying coins that are not hot, but are fundamentally strong and growing on key metrics... CELO has more Daily Active Users, a 10x lower marketcap and much cleaner UX/UI." – @Crypto_Guerrila (8.1K followers · 2026-01-09 07:45 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bullish for CELO because it reflects a value-investment thesis based on user growth and superior product design compared to a larger competitor (Polygon). The anticipation of a tokenomics upgrade that could capture fee revenue is seen as a potential catalyst.

3. @VelodromeFi: Showcasing Massive LP Rewards on Celo bullish

"Velodrome Slipstream LP Rewards - Celo 🚴‍♂️ • $USDT - $cEUR: ~2,909% • $CELO - $cEUR: ~459% • $CELO - $cUSD: ~293%" – @VelodromeFi (244K followers · 2025-08-01 15:30 UTC) View original post What this means: This is bullish for CELO because exceptionally high liquidity provider yields signal strong incentives to lock up CELO and stablecoins within its DeFi ecosystem. This can reduce sell pressure and increase network utility, although such high rates are often time-limited.

Conclusion

The consensus on CELO is mixed but leans toward cautious optimism. Long-term holders are encouraged by proposed deflationary mechanics and strong ecosystem metrics, while the current ~90% drawdown from its 2025 high presents a high-risk, high-reward scenario. The key near-term catalyst to watch is the formalization and community vote on the proposed token buyback and burn program.

Deep Dive

1. Jello Hardfork (December 2025)

Overview: This upgrade made Celo the first network to deploy OP Succinct Lite on mainnet, introducing zero-knowledge (ZK) fault proofs. For users, this means stronger security guarantees and more reliable monitoring of network operators.

The hardfork integrated ZK-powered fault proof infrastructure, which allows anyone to cryptographically challenge a sequencer's incorrect outputs. This moves Celo closer to a decentralized and trust-minimized rollup. Core user advantages like paying gas with stablecoins (fee abstraction) remained intact.

What this means: This is bullish for CELO because it significantly boosts the network's security and trustworthiness, making it more attractive for developers building serious applications. It addresses a key critique of optimistic rollups by adding cryptographic verification.

(Source)

2. Isthmus Hardfork (July 2025)

Overview: This was a scheduled mainnet upgrade that finalized Celo's technical alignment as an Ethereum Layer 2. It required node operators to update their clients, ensuring network-wide compatibility with new protocol features.

The hardfork processed at block height 31,056,500 on March 26, 2025, marking the definitive shift from a standalone L1. Exchanges like KuCoin and Upbit temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals to support the seamless transition for user assets.

What this means: This is neutral for CELO as it represents the completion of a planned technical milestone rather than a new feature. It ensures the network's long-term viability and integration within the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

(Source)

3. CLI v7.0.0 Release (2025)

Overview: This major update to the celocli developer tool removed deprecated commands and optimized the codebase for the L2 era, making it faster and simpler for builders to interact with the network.

Key changes include purging L1-only validator commands, removing support for --gasCurrency config, and migrating core functions from Web3.js to the newer viem library. It also added an epoch:status command for better network insight.

What this means: This is bullish for CELO because a modern, efficient developer toolkit lowers the barrier for building new applications, which can drive ecosystem growth and utility. It signals active maintenance and a forward-looking technical roadmap.

(Source)

Conclusion

Celo's recent codebase trajectory prioritizes security upgrades, Ethereum alignment, and developer experience, cementing its technical foundation as a mobile-first L2. How will the integration of ZK fault proofs influence the next wave of applications built on the network?

Deep Dive

1. OP Succinct Lite Mainnet Launch (Coming Soon)

Overview: This is the next major technical upgrade for Celo mainnet. Following the successful Eclair testnet launch in July 2025, which combined OP Stack, Succinct's ZK-powered fault proofs, and EigenDA for data availability, the final step is deploying this infrastructure to mainnet (Celo). The upgrade, referred to as the "Jello Hardfork," aims to introduce faster, configurable finality and enhanced security by enabling anyone to challenge sequencers with zero-knowledge proofs.

What this means: This is bullish for CELO because it directly strengthens the network's security and trustlessness, a critical factor for institutional and DeFi adoption. It also represents the culmination of Celo's multi-year transition to a modular Ethereum L2, potentially improving network efficiency and developer confidence.

2. Pursuing Vision 2030 Strategic Goals (2026–2030)

Overview: Announced in April 2025, Vision 2030 is Celo's strategic framework for the next five years, targeting a trillion-dollar annual onchain economy (Celo Foundation). Core objectives include scaling stablecoin volume to over $850 billion, expanding to over one billion connected users, and establishing the Self protocol as a leading onchain identity standard. This is not a dated technical milestone but a guiding vision for ecosystem growth, partnerships, and product development.

What this means: This is neutral-to-bullish for CELO as it sets an ambitious growth trajectory focused on real-world utility, particularly in emerging markets. Success depends on execution and broader market adoption. The focus on stablecoin volume and user growth could drive increased network usage and demand for CELO in governance and fee abstraction over the long term.

Conclusion

Celo's immediate roadmap prioritizes completing its technical evolution as a secure L2, while its long-term vision ambitiously targets massive scale in real-world payments and identity. How will the rollout of ZK fault proofs influence developer activity and DeFi TVL on Celo in the coming months?