Introduction
The transcript captures the highlights of the first Kuneko gathering, hosted by the Seller Foundation, a monthly event bringing together the seller community. The event celebrates the growth of the community, discusses the launch of Celo dollars, showcases product sneak previews, and highlights the winners of Celo Camp Vasa Base. Additionally, the event features updates from Merrick, co-founder and CTO of Celo Labs, and emphasizes the importance of community engagement and interaction throughout.
Launch of Celo Dollars
The event marks the official launch of Celo dollars, a stablecoin that holds a one-to-one peg with the US dollar. This milestone is significant as it provides a stable asset on the Celo platform, making it easily accessible through mobile phones. The achievement is attributed to three key innovations: the ultralight client implementation enabling fast syncs on budget phones, the option to pay transaction fees in Celo dollars, and the lightweight identity protocol allowing anyone to receive Celo dollars based on their phone number.
Focus on Economic Inclusion
Since its inception, the Celo community has been dedicated to identifying solutions for economic inclusion and prosperity worldwide. The platform aims to address various markets, including the digital remittance, gig economy, and mobile point of sale sectors, which collectively represent trillions of dollars. With over 90 global organizations committed to leveraging Celo for these use cases, the initial reach of Celo extends to over 400 million people.
The Story of Fernando and Velora
The transcript introduces the story of Fernando, a fictional character, to illustrate the need for financial connectivity. Fernando’s options for sending money home were limited until he discovered Velora, a non-custodial app that ensures security and privacy. Velora leverages innovative cryptography, including hashed and verified phone numbers, to facilitate fast and easy value sharing within communities. The transcript highlights the importance of phone numbers in enabling financial connections and emphasizes Velora’s commitment to building trust, stability, and accessibility.
Unveiling Velora’s Identity
Taylor discusses the development of Velora’s brand and visual identity. The name “Velora” underwent iterations to align with the desired characteristics of trustworthiness, stability, and accessibility. The final logo combines a V shape with arches, symbolizing the potential for communities to prosper and the presence of diverse cultures. The addition of circles represents a group of people with arms raised in pride, embodying Velora’s mission to financially connect Africans worldwide.
Micro Loans and Community Prosperity
The transcript showcases the story of Jorge, an entrepreneur in Colombia, who founded a savings circle to provide financial solutions for his community. Traditional financial institutions were lacking, leading to the development of informal borrowing systems. Celo’s micro loans offer better terms, increased transparency, and mobile identities, empowering individuals like Jorge and enabling communities to thrive. The transcript emphasizes the potential for Celo’s decentralized finance capabilities to positively impact communities and urges a reframing of the concept of DeFi for social good.
Technical Updates and Future Plans
The transcript includes technical updates and milestones achieved by Celo Labs. It mentions the distributed oblivious directory service to protect user privacy, the collateralization of Celo dollars with a basket of crypto assets, and the ability to pay transaction fees with Celo dollars. The introduction of a multi-validator setup using threshold signatures is also highlighted, providing more options for secure key management. The transcript concludes by mentioning upcoming workshops, encouraging early access to Velora, and expressing gratitude to the Celo community.