Highlights from ETHSafari: Next Wave of Adoption Panel

Highlights from the “Next Wave of Adoption” panel featuring Markus Franke, CEO at Mento Labs, during ETHSafari

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Hi, everyone, my name is Markus. I've been in the Celo ecosystem for over six years. Celo is the home for stablecoins and I am working on the Mento Platform, a decentralized EVM-compatible platform for launching and operating stablecoins.

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I come from a traditional finance background. I worked in banks and other TradFi organizations before joining Celo. For me, it is very important to learn what is working and what is not working in our current global financial system. Being here in Kenya, and observing how locals are using mobile money, accessing loans, paying, sending, receiving, and saving funds, is fascinating. Today, I want to discuss the next wave of adoption via local currency stablecoins.

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Mento is a decentralized platform designed to launch and operate stablecoins for every country. However, simply launching stablecoins is not enough. Every stablecoin that is launched on the Mento Platform requires robust liquidity, seamless exchange capabilities with other currencies, support for on-chain foreign exchange (FX), payment functionalities, lending solutions and most importantly, local partners and projects on the ground.

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Mento’s Ecosystem

Mento supports a growing ecosystem of stablecoins: cUSD (Dollar), cEUR (Euro), cREAL (Brazilian Real), eXOF (West African Franc), cKES (Kenya Shilling), cCOP (Colombian Peso), cGHS (Ghanaian Cedi) and PUSO (Philippine Peso). Mento also has an on-chain decentralized exchange (DEX), the Mento Asset Exchange, enabling swaps between currencies without fees or slippage. For example, users can swap from USDt to cKES or cCOP. Future plans include launching additional stablecoins on Mento, for example, Mexican Peso and South African Rand.

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Mento is powering the “Pockets” feature of the Opera MiniPay wallet, allowing currency swaps such as USDC to cUSD. Mento’s goal is to connect communities through local currency stablecoins, by giving them access to capital, supporting businesses, and enabling equity and debt funding.

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Stablecoins allow users to save in global currencies like cUSD while navigating inflation. At the same time, they can enable loans in local currencies such as cKES or cCOP, minimizing foreign exchange risk.

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Use Cases for Stablecoins

Loans in local currencies are essential for small to medium businesses. Entrepreneurs prefer local currency loans since their revenues, taxes, and expenses are usually in the same currency that they are familiar with. Accessing loans in USD introduces exchange rate risks, which many small entrepreneurs can’t afford.

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Local currencies also unlock use cases like on-chain FX, remittances, and localized financial services.

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Microcredit is a particularly impactful use case. For example, in Kenya, Haraka leverages cKES to provide microloans within local lending circles called “Chamas.” Trust and community are central to these initiatives, enabling local communities to thrive using Web3 technologies.

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Local payment projects such as Pretium, the MiniPay dollar stablecoin wallet, and others play a key role in facilitating adoption. Our local partners are building solutions tailored to the needs of users in Africa.

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Celo Kenya Shilling, cKES

Mento Labs organized a hackathon to encourage local builders to create innovative local projects using the Kenya Shilling stablecoin, cKES.

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Users can hold cKES by on-ramping with partners like Payd, Fonbnk, or Kotani Pay. They can also access cKES on-chain through Valora.

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In partnership with Fonbnk, Mento is running a cKES campaign to reward users who on-ramp cUSD or cKES through the Fonbnk Pay Widget. To learn more about the cKES campaign, visit the campaign announcement here.

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Projects like Project Mocha accepted cKES for purchasing Kenyan coffee and beans at the event venue during ETHSafari, providing tangible use cases for local currency stablecoins.

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MENTO Airdrop and Governance

Mento’s Governance is evolving with the introduction of MENTO, a dedicated governance token. This shift will ensure that Mento Governance focuses specifically on stablecoin operations. Recent airdrops of the MENTO token to staked CELO holders mark the first step in this transition, with more airdrops coming soon.