Celo launches stablecoin pegged to Brazilian real

Celo (CELO/USD), a blockchain ecosystem focused on increasing cryptocurrency adoption among smartphone users, has launched cREAL, a stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real, CoinDesk reported. This is the platform’s third stablecoin after cUSD and cEUR, which are pegged to the U.S. dollar and the euro respectively.

cREAL was introduced on Brazil-based crypto exchanges Ripio, FlowBTC and NovaDAX today. It is also supported by a few crypto wallets.

Users can spend stablecoins with prepaid crypto card

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Users of NovaDAX can use the prepaid crypto card issued by the exchange. Celo owners and blockchain governors proposed and approved the cREAL according to Rene Reinsberg, Celo cofounder and CELO Foundation President.

Reinsberg commented:

There was a lot of excitement for crypto in Brazil. Specifically in the Celo community, we have seen a lot of teams built on Celo, integrated with Celo, using cUSD. From the outset, Brazil was obviously one of the strongest markets in terms of adoption.

cREAL can be used for CeFi and DeFi apps and services on the Celo blockchain, such as the decentralized exchange Ubeswap, the lending protocol Moola Market, or Valora, a mobile-first digital wallet native to the Celo network. It works as a decentralized, crypto-collateralized algorithmic stablecoin.

Celo Foundation’s Latam lead Camila Rioja said:

The rate of cryptocurrency adoption in high-growth markets — in particular Brazil — not only signals growing excitement for this new digital economy, but the advance of real-world use cases.

Record inflation of the real

Brazilians are embracing stablecoins amid record inflation and devaluation of the real. Between January and November last year, they traded $11.4 billion in stablecoins, which was almost triple the total traded the previous year.

Striking while the iron’s hot

Global exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com are aiming to take advantage of that crypto boom. In 2022, Brazil is projected to be Latin America’s main market.

Celo Foundation’s president added that Celo supports a number of projects in the country, including ImpactMarket, a universal basic income program running on Celo, which has delivered blockchain-based aid to 10,000 beneficiaries in Brazil so far.

Last December, Kickstarter announced it would release a decentralized version of its core functionality on the Celo blockchain.