Libra Competitor Celo Gets Backing From 75 Companies

Celo, the competitor currency to Facebook’s Libra recently received backing from a total of 75 companies.

50% increase in the number of members

The Celo project has frequently been called a competitor to social media giant Facebook’s Libra. The company recently increased the membership to its alliance by 50% bringing the total number of members up to 75. Facebook, on the other hand, has 24 members. Companies like Mercy Corps, Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Bison Trains, and Anchorage are members of both alliances.

Anchorage president Diogo Monica noted in a statement,

“Celo and Libra each have unique focuses and approaches, but they share a goal that Anchorage strongly believes in: banking the unbanked.”

The company recently added 20 new members in the Celo Alliance for Prosperity. Chuck Kimble, who heads the alliance at The Celo Foundation said that the new members are committing to create prosperity, especially in Latin America and Africa.

The new members are United Africa Blockchain Association, Bitfy, Grin, Althea, Yello, Ankr, Latamtech, Ontology, Blockchain Education Network, Centrifuge, Dunia Pay, Mobike, Dove Wallet, Coinfirm, Positive Blockchain, Paxful, Mycash Online, Ribon, Positive Blockchain, Transak, Peixe, Netki, and Hex Trust.

Celo grows, Facebook changes plans

Celo began in March to create a financial inclusion project with 50 founding members. The project will work with Celo Gold token, which will receive custodial support from Coinbase and Anchorage. Celo will donate a portion of its Celo block rewards to an afforestation effort via Project Wren which will support a carbon-neutral decentralized network. It also has a virtual accelerator network called Celo Camp with Upright and a microwork pilot in Kenya with Appen and Clabs. Other prominent members of the alliance are Bison Trails, Blockchain.com, Ledger, etc.

While Celo is quickly adding more members to its alliance, Facebook is busy changing the scope of its project. In company has now pivoted away from a single-cryptocurrency backed by a basket of currencies to multiple cryptocurrencies, backed by a fiat each. The company is doing so to make sure that it adheres to regulations around the world.