Opera, a privacy-oriented web browser, has a history of incorporating crypto features in recent years; now it’s incorporating its first stablecoins.
Opera is making the Celo Dollar (cUSD) and Celo Euro (cEUR) stablecoins available in its crypto wallet along with Celo’s native CELO token. Celo is an open-source blockchain network focused on making decentralized finance (DeFi) systems and tools more accessible. In its early days, Celo was often compared to Libra.
“Stablecoins aren’t subject to market fluctuations,” Opera’s head of crypto, Cuautemoc Weber, said in an email. “It’s been a goal of Opera’s to make blockchain technologies as widespread and easily accessible as possible. We’ve been following this strategy for many years now with our built-in crypto wallet and Web3 support across Opera browsers.”
cUSD was a great fit, Weber said, because people can actually use it as an alternative to fiat in emerging markets.
There are currently 191,763 holders of cUSD and 243 holders of the newly launched cEUR, according to Celo’s blockchain explorer. cUSD has a market capitalization of $51 million, a fraction of the $100 billion stablecoin market.
Celo crescendo
Opera also joined the Celo Alliance for Prosperity, a group of more than 140 organizations “fostering social impact and financial inclusion through the use of blockchain technology.”
“Larger corporations are paying attention to the crypto user experience and how to incorporate crypto into people’s daily lives,” Chuck Kimble, head of the alliance at cLabs (which works on Celo), said in an email.
Opera users can now send peer-to-peer remittances, trade, or convert to Celo’s native asset or stablecoins from Opera’s wallet through Ramp.
“Opera’s focus on key growth markets, in particular the U.S. and EU, Africa, Southeast Asia and LATAM, will enable these mobile-savvy communities to interact with Celo assets and the Celo ecosystem with ease,” Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg said in a statement.