Bankless The Most Underrated Chain: Celo’s Surprising Traction Around the World | Marek Olszewski
Jan 29, 2026
Marek Olszewski, CEO of cLabs and longtime builder of the Celo mobile-first blockchain. He discusses Celo’s focus on cheap, mobile peer-to-peer payments and real-world traction like MiniPay and Opera integration. Conversation covers stablecoins for remittances, on-chain FX and hedging, identity with Self.xyz, and why fast, low-cost payments matter globally.
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Design For Normies Wins Payments
- Celo built mobile-first features like phone-number identifiers and native stablecoin gas to make crypto simple for normies.
- Those design choices intentionally prioritized P2P payments and ease-of-use over L1 novelty.
Bootstrap In Underserved Markets
- To build global payments, start in smaller markets where existing rails are weak and network effects can densify quickly.
- Use those dense markets to expand outward rather than trying to win established markets first.
700k Daily Actives, Real-World Use
- Celo reports ~700k daily active addresses driven mainly by Minipay, outpacing many L2s in active users.
- Usage clusters around P2P payments, on-chain FX, and decentralized identity (self.xyz).