Opera adds Celo’s stablecoins to its African crypto wallet offering

Opera the first major browser to introduce a built-in crypto wallet in 2018, has added Celo’s native asset (CELO) or cUSD providing exposure for African crypto wallet users on Opera.

San Francisco-based Celo, used in over 100 countries, allows users to send and receive money in the form of its tokens to mobile phones. The cLabs team has been committed to making cryptocurrency accessible for millions of smartphone users around the world and has collaborated with Opera.

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With its mobile-first approach and acute focus on building new products for emerging markets and Africa , Opera has been added to the Celo Alliance for Prosperity joining Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecom providers in Europe. The telecom giant has made a “significant purchase” of Celo’s native token, through its strategic investment fund, the Telekom Innovation Pool.

African crypto wallet users on Opera will be able to make purchases, send peer-to-peer remittances, trade, or cash in and cash out in Celo’s native asset (CELO) or cUSD from the browser’s built-in crypto wallet, which is compatible with both its desktop and iOS browsers.

Adding stablecoin support mitigates the risk of cryptocurrency volatility, helping to ensure that a transfer’s value tracks a fiat value when sent and delivered for African crypto wallet users. This is critical to overcoming the friction associated with using blockchain technologies.

“Celo is putting financial apps and services into the pockets of millions of people, for whom their phone is the most important device that they use. This mobile-first approach directly aligns with the needs of our hundreds of millions of mobile users,” said Cuautemoc Weber, Head of Crypto and VP Business Development and Mobile at Opera.

“We chose to integrate cUSD and cEUR as our first stablecoins, as a large part of our user base lives in markets like Africa, the Philippines, and LATAM, where access to financial services — such as cash out options — is limited, fiat volatility can be challenging, and remittance costs are high. Celo makes this possible with just a mobile phone number.”

CELO and cUSD are now available in the Opera wallet via Ramp. Users can purchase and interact with these assets just like they can with other supported assets in the Opera wallet, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Support for cEUR is also underway.

Source: appsafrica