By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 24th, 2024
As described by the stablecoin issuer, the Celo fee advantage will help it connect more with users in socio-economically disadvantaged regions.
Stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd has unveiled plans to integrate USDT on Celo to drive the mobile-first Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) accessibility globally. According to Tether’s update regarding the collaboration, part of its primary goal is to help facilitate fast, low-cost payments worldwide.
Tether and Celo: The Power Combo
Tether is considered the dollar-equivalent in the digital currency ecosystem and its dominance extended recently with circulating supply now pegged at 102,018,133,001 USDT. Besides its monetary valuation, USDT also has the wildest reach in the industry and it is resident as a token on Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Tron, and Polygon to mention a few.
Extending its ecosystem to Celo is considered another attempt to drive “financial inclusion and empower individuals across the globe.”
“The integration of Tether USDT on the Celo platform, which is built for the real world, will represent a significant step forward in our mission. By leveraging the unique capabilities of Celo, we can further enhance the usability and accessibility of Tether for millions of people,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
The attractiveness of Celo is innumerable. The protocol notably boasts of being a Carbon-neutral platform that aligns with the long-term goals of energy efficiency that Tether is pursuing. Celo has an ecosystem of over 1,000 projects all contributing to driving financial inclusion that also aligns with Tether’s push to reach anyone, anywhere in the world.
Tether’s popularity as a preferred stablecoin by millions of people in crypto is enhanced by its provisions of a low-cost transaction and a relatively fast money movement compared to its peers. Celo will help it enhance the status quo as it typically charges about $0.001 in fees for normal transactions.
As described by the stablecoin issuer, the Celo fee advantage will help it connect more with users in socio-economically disadvantaged regions.
Innovations to Take Center-stage
More use cases will be explored because of the Tether and Celo partnership. As Tether highlighted, developers at cLabs will make a community forum proposal to enable USDT as the gas fee for transactions on the Celo blockchain, a move it noted will “streamline transactions and foster efficiency within decentralized applications (dApps) focusing on payments, lending, and more.”
Tether remains one of the most attacked stablecoins or crypto projects in the digital currency ecosystem. Despite the backlash it received per its reserve and stability proofs, the platform has been maintaining a steady growth trend since Paolo Ardoino took over as CEO.
As another achievement in his belt, the Celo and Tether integration will benefit both firms as the combined asset can now be adopted for microtransactions, ecommerce and other forms of financial settlement. As noted, rather than compete with the native stablecoins on Celo, Tether’s USDT will act in a complimentary manner and help assets like Mento’s eXOF and cREAL gain more relevance.