Celo Transitions to Layer 2 to Integrate with Ethereum

Activity on Celo, a layer 1 blockchain supporting decentralized applications (dapps), has been intensifying lately.

Layer 1 blockchain Celo has seen a surge in activity on its network lately.

At the beginning of July, the blockchain crossed the 1 million mark in daily transactions for the first time in 2024. This follows a short-term spike in transaction count at the end of 2023, which saw Celo hit a record high of over 13 million transactions in a single day.

Meanwhile, the number of daily active users on Celo peaked earlier in July at over 716,000, according to data from Token Terminal.

Celo’s official explorer shows that June was the best month in terms of active users so far, although July might be on track to update the record.

Celo is a layer 1 blockchain network and ecosystem that focuses on mobile-first decentralized applications (dapps) and smart contracts. It primarily targets financial applications with its mainnet, SDKs, and tools.

The network was quite active in decentralized finance (DeFi) during its 2021 boom, but it has lost significant traction since then. Its total value locked (TVL) dropped from around $1 billion in October 2021 to about $100 million at the time of writing.

The most active DeFi apps on Celo are multi-chain dapps, which suggests that Celo’s native ecosystem is weak compared to other established chains. The top three largest DeFi apps on Celo are Mento, Uniswap, and Curve DEX.

Celo Transitions to Layer 2 to Integrate with Ethereum

In a bid to increase its presence in DeFi, Celo is looking for methods to integrate with Ethereum.

On July 7, Celo launched its native scaling solution for Ethereum called Dango. Currently in testnet mode, the layer 2 network will eventually become Celo’s flagship network.

The Celo community voted to gradually transition from its current layer 1 format to a more efficient Ethereum layer 2 network, joining the likes of Base, Optimism, Arbitrum, or Blast in the process.