OSLO, Norway and SAN FRANCISCO, June 25,
2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Web browser Opera (NASDAQ: OPRA),
and Celo, an open-source blockchain ecosystem focused on making
decentralized financial (DeFi) systems and tools accessible to
anyone with a smartphone, and today announced that Opera will
integrate Celo Native Asset (CELO), Celo Dollar (cUSD), and
Celo Euro (cEUR) stablecoins in its Crypto Wallet. This integration
enables millions of Opera users to make purchases, send
peer-to-peer remittances, trade, or cash in and cash out in Celo's
native asset or cUSD stablecoin from the browser's built-in crypto
wallet. Opera has also joined the Celo
Alliance for Prosperity, a mission-aligned network of 140+
organizations fostering social impact and financial inclusion
through the use of blockchain technology.
cUSD and cEUR are both stable digital assets that track the U.S.
dollar and Euro, respectively. With cUSD and cEUR, users can
transfer value and engage in global financial activities faster,
cheaper, and more easily on their smartphone. Stablecoins can
mitigate the risk of cryptocurrency volatility, helping to ensure
that a transfer's value tracks a fiat value when sent and
delivered. Both the Celo Dollar and Celo Euro are supported by
multiple digital assets in the Celo Reserve, including BTC and
ETH.
"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."
The move is a further step in Opera's strategy to eliminate the
hurdles associated with using blockchain technologies. In
December 2018, the Norwegian company
introduced the first blockchain browser, Opera for Android, with a
built-in crypto wallet and dApp explorer. Opera then added a
built-in crypto wallet to its desktop browser as well as to its iOS
browser.
"As the first major browser to integrate a crypto wallet, Opera
is pioneering a familiar tool – a mobile browser – to put usable
crypto directly in the hands of real people," said Rene Reinsberg, co-founder of Celo. "Opera's
focus on key growth markets, in particular the US and EU,
Africa, Southeast Asia and LATAM, will enable these
mobile-savvy communities to interact with Celo assets and the Celo
ecosystem with ease. Millions of people will now have access to new
savings, P2P payments, and cash in, cash out services, in addition
to major stablecoins."
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.
Availability:
Celo is currently supported in the Opera browser on Android. To
get started, please download the Opera browser from the Google Play
store.
About Opera
Opera is a global web innovator. Opera's browsers, news products
and fintech solutions are the trusted choice of hundreds of
millions of users worldwide. Opera is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock
exchange (OPRA). Download the Opera browser from www.opera.com.
About Celo
Celo is a mobile-first, open-source ecosystem of technologies,
organizations and individuals that all share a common mission of
building a financial system that creates the conditions for
prosperity for everyone. The Celo ecosystem includes a
decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain technology stack (Celo
Platform), a native asset (CELO), two stablecoins (cUSD and cEUR),
and the Celo Foundation's Alliance for Prosperity, with over 140
organizations around the world, including Deutsche Telekom,
Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, Anchorage, Coinbase, GSMA,
Grameen Foundation, Prosegur, Abra, and cLabs, a service
organization dedicated to growing and developing the Celo
ecosystem. For more information on Celo, please visit celo.org.
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SOURCE Opera Limited