Celo Gather: Empowering Global Financial Inclusion with Mento

Mento is an open-source EVM platform that allows anyone to launch and operate decentralized, transparent stablecoins, with the mission to bring local currency stablecoins to every country of the world. We believe that local currency stablecoins offer significant value, especially in emerging and frontier markets, as they not only enable payments and remittances in local currencies, but also facilitate microloans and borrowing. The Mento Platform provides a highly efficient AMM infrastructure (automated market making), which enables users to easily swap between different digital currencies. This AMM feature is at the core of Mento, and unlocks multiple use cases such as on-chain FX. As more transactions occur on Mento (Mento is currently the second most used stablecoin platform by daily active users), the platform's full potential becomes increasingly clear.

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The journey began with cUSD, the first stablecoin on the Mento Platform by the Celo community. Since then, more stablecoins have been added with community votes, including the cREAL (Brazilian Real), eXOF (West African Franc), and, most recently, cKES, the Kenyan Shilling.

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A crucial aspect of having live stablecoins is the ability to swap and trade them. In many countries, especially across Africa, US Dollar stablecoins are already popular. For instance, people use Tether’s USDT for various use cases. Mento's AMM makes it easy to swap USDT for cUSD, cKES or cREAL. Mento’s AMM is also integrated into different mobile wallets like Valora and MiniPay. This integration includes features like MiniPay Pockets, powered by Mento’s AMM, allowing seamless swaps between cUSD, USDT, and USDC.

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Local Currencies on Mento

In many countries, high inflation rates are a significant concern. Providing access to US Dollar stablecoins through Mento is an excellent use case for Web3. People in high-inflation countries can save in stable US Dollars, protecting their savings from local currency depreciation. For instance, in Kenya, the Kenyan Shilling might lose value against local goods or the US Dollar. Saving in cUSD or another US Dollar stablecoin becomes a significant solution. On the other hand, local currency loans are crucial for entrepreneurs. If revenue, taxes, and salaries are in local currency, borrowing in US Dollars can be risky due to currency fluctuations. Mento enables borrowing in local currencies, reducing this risk. Microlending and microcredit, therefore, have immense potential with local currencies. Beyond microcredit, the on-chain FX market allows hedging, forwards, and futures, enabling cross-product business transactions. Microfunding, or small equity funding for businesses, is another exciting use case for local currencies.

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Mento Labs Spin-Off and MENTO Governance Token

Another exciting development is the establishment of dedicated governance for the Mento Platform. Initially governed by the Celo community, Mento's growth and the addition of more stablecoins and projects created the need for its own governance system. A monumental step forward in Mento Labs' journey has been achieved! The community voted on the Celo Governance proposal, resulting in Mento Labs’ spin-off and the launch of the MENTO governance token. This historic separation, accomplished through a Celo governance vote, makes Mento the only governance system fully born from another fully decentralized governance community.