What Brought Celo (CELO) to a One-Month High
One token stood out after crypto markets retreated in the beginning of the new week. As Bitcoin (BTC) moved back for a few hours $46,000, most altcoins also corrected and erased between 6% and 10%.
The only outlier was Celo (CELO) ranked at position 63, rising fast to a one-month high of $4.89 on a multi-day rally. CELO has been on an expansion streak in the past few weeks, though still far from its all-time high above $7.63. CELO trading has been choppy in less than a total year of trading, with still an easy chance for the asset to move to a new region of price discovery.
CELO has a market cap of around $4.1B, still not touching the $5B tier. It is following the trend for breakouts among smaller tokens that follow a different trajectory. The latest rally happens on mid-range trading volumes around $564M.
The rally arrives at a time for renewed interest in still untapped altcoins and tokens. The CELO rally coincided with a slide in BTC and a loss of dominance down to 41%.
What is CELO: Mobile-First DeFi Hub
Celo has a separate blockchain built with proof of stake, but also compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. The Celo network allows for the building of distributed apps and supports a native stablecoin backed by other crypto assets.
Celo allows not only for infrastructure, but is also a fundraising platform for crypto-based startups. As such, Celo lines up with platform coins, though lagging behind the visibility and value locked on Solana, Terra, Avalanche and more recently, Waves.
Celo also carries the cReal stablecoin, building up its asset base similar to Terra and UST and Waves with its USDN dollar-denominated asset. Celo Real (cREAL) is the third stablecoin on the Celo protocol, aimed at being used in the context of fintech mobile-based payments.
CREAL is still limited in its influence compared to stablecoins, but it is adding to the growth of the network. Celo is a fast blockchain producing a block every five seconds, and filled with meaningful transactions, based on the blockchain record.
Is CELO Accessible
Celo usage requires a new type of wallet specific to the network. There is a web version for small-scale payments and a desktop and hardware wallet app available. CELO is not available through browser extension wallets or Exodus wallet.
The asset is available through Changelly and is traded on the Binance International exchange. Coinbase wallet and the trading platform supports CELO for US-based and international users. Thus, CELO is available as much as large-scale assets, though lagging in market cap and visibility.
The goal of CELO is to be accessible as a mobile-first blockchain asset, while integrating seamlessly similar to a payment app. Celo is available through Crypto.com and has partnered with the Wormhole bridge for multi-chain access.
Is CELO a Good Investment
CELO is a volatile asset with a relatively short history, which has not picked a direction. Still, it is highly liquid compared to tokens with lesser exposure on exchanges.
The immediate appreciation coincides with a live event, CeloConnect, and may be a response to short-term social media hype. The Celo meeting in Barcelona also coincided with the announcement of $20M investment plans to boost the development of more exchange ramps for CELO. Easy switching between crypto and fiat may be key for new platform adoption.
But Celo has also shown attempts for partnerships. With a low per-unit price, CELO has a supply of 433M tokens, relatively close to the range of Solana with 325M coins. CELO could potentially turn to a higher valuation.
Currently, CELO follows the path of secondary protocols like NEAR, which get a boost from locked value and the activity of their stablecoin. Opera Crypto also recently added Celo to its list of DeFi and platform protocols.
Celo is currently ranked 19th in terms of total value locked, with a still relatively small TVL compared to leading hubs of liquidity. Celo locks in around $576M, of which 76% is in the Mento DeFi startup. Mento is a stability algorithm that balances asset collaterals with the issuance of stablecoins, similar to Maker on Ethereum.
How High Can CELO Go
In the short term, recent predictions see CELO go between $14 and $20. For a more bullish estimation, the $100 range is one possibility, mostly linked to the level of LUNA.
It is possible CELO retreats after the end of the Barcelona event, as the asset habitually wipes out 50% of its price. Celo remains one of the faster developments in DeFi space, where most of the major milestones and liquidity were wrapped up in less than a year.
CELO is even close to its ICO price, where the funds were raised at $4.75 per token for a total of $6.5M. CELO is yet to rally as it has achieved very little gains since the token sale and even losses when denominated in ETH and BTC.
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