Celo's Next Chapter: Opera Proposal to Transition from Distribution Partner to Network Stakeholder

Governance
1

Summary

Dear Celo Community,

We’re excited to share a major proposed next step for the Celo ecosystem.

This proposal marks the first joint initiative from Celo Core Co. following the recent unification of cLabs and the Celo Foundation, a process we called Celomorphosis, designed to streamline how our core contributing teams operate across planning, prioritization, and execution, while keeping Celo’s principles intact.

Among our greatest onchain achievements to date is the continued partnership between Celo Core Co. and Opera MiniPay. Together, we’ve built a powerful distribution engine of 13M+ users, driving all-time highs in Daily Active Users (DAUs) and Weekly Active Users (WAUs) with 700K+ DAUs and 4.23M+ WAUs of USDT, respectively, more so than any other chain.

To double down on this extraordinary partnership, Celo Core Co. proposes transitioning Opera from a distribution partner to a full network stakeholder. Subject to community approval, Celo Core Co. and Opera have agreed to better align the commercial terms of their partnership agreement, prioritizing Opera as a key ecosystem stakeholder and CELO holder, with significant exposure to the native asset, backed by a one-time transfer of 160 million CELO from the unreleased treasury to an Opera-controlled Safe.

This proposal shifts the partnership model from a short-term, proposal-based funding model to a long-term, aligned partnership. By doing so, it removes recurring governance overhead while preserving the Community Fund, strengthening alignment with Celo’s most important partner, and creating a viable path forward for sustained growth across key source markets across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

If approved, this proposal enables Opera to operate as a committed network stakeholder with long-term incentives tied directly to the success of the Celo ecosystem, while capping governance participation at 10% of total staked CELO (as reported by https://mondo.celo.org/), with the exception of protocol emergencies.

Motivation

Opera has already demonstrated that it can drive meaningful user adoption of Celo through MiniPay, the self-custodial stablecoin wallet, which recently surpassed 13M users across 66 geographies, with over 40 Mini Apps and real-world use cases ranging from buying gold to paying bills to prediction markets.

While the longstanding partnership began in June 2021 and has brought the Celo community’s mission of creating the conditions of prosperity for all to life at global scales, the current structure of recurring governance proposals limits long-term planning. Moving to a lump-sum payment, held in CELO rather than in US Dollar-denominated stablecoins, eliminates recurring overhead while crystallizing Opera’s already demonstrated commitment to the continued success of the Celo ecosystem.

As MiniPay grew beyond a peer-to-peer wallet, its Mini Apps ecosystem provided Celo’s builder community with a distribution channel that reached millions of real users. Developer initiatives like Proof of Ship, accelerators like Celo Camp, and venture backing from Verda Ventures have built a support structure oriented around founder success. Teams like Zeno Vision and Squidrouter are proof of what’s possible: their apps MiniPlay and Buy Gold have grown into category leaders with genuine global reach. As MiniPay expands into new geographies, the behavioral data and ecosystem infrastructure built over years of operation will give the next generation of builders a meaningful head start.

It also reflects the scale of the opportunity in front of Celo. Opera brings access to hundreds of millions of users globally, including a large base of Opera Mini users, 60M of whom have access to points, ready to potentially convert to cash redemption within MiniPay. Securing and deepening this relationship is a critical step toward expanding real-world usage of Celo.

Specification

This proposal requests a one-time transfer of 160,000,000 CELO from the unreleased treasury to an Opera-controlled Safe to support a three-year partnership.

The restructure of this partnership includes several key components.

  1. Opera transitions from a distribution partner to a long-term network stakeholder. Opera has committed to holding CELO long term, aligning its incentives with the long-term success of the ecosystem, and adding to CELO’s current supply and market cap.
  2. To maintain governance balance, voting power associated with these holdings will be capped at 10% of total staked CELO (as reported by https://mondo.celo.org/), with the exception of protocol emergencies.

Replacing the existing quarterly proposal model removes the need for recurring governance requests and allows both Opera and the community to focus on execution and unlocking 100M users.

Opera’s track record to date includes contributions across MiniPay, payments infrastructure, on-ramps, bridging, and miniapp ecosystem development. Going forward, the partnership is expected to expand distribution, focusing on markets across LATAM and SEA, deepen user engagement, support Mini App growth, and activate new markets through targeted ecosystem efforts such as regional roadshows and strategic partnerships, including with Tether. As shared in the Q4 update at the end of 2025, MiniPay is excited to bring even more everyday utility to users with a crypto credit card.

Metrics

Success for this initiative will be evaluated across a combination of adoption, ecosystem growth, and engagement metrics. Key metrics include MiniPay active user growth, Mini App launches and usage, transaction volume, onchain activity driven through Opera-integrated products, and geographic expansion across priority markets such as LATAM, Southeast Asia, and APAC, and continued growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.

New wallet creation, increased usage of onchain financial tools (such as Virtual Bank Accounts and merchant payment integrations), and contribution to Celo network activity (Daily Active Users, stablecoin volume, TVL, and more) will also be referenced as performance metrics.

This continues Opera’s responsibility to share MiniPay’s growth metrics with the community since launch, which has been delivered upon with consistent quarterly reporting in addition to funding requests with KPIs and metrics:

Payment Terms

The requested CELO will be transferred in a single transaction to an Opera-controlled Safe upon approval of the proposal.

Milestone CELO $ Value in $CELO (at 30d-avg of .0771)
Community Grants (2026 - Q3 2029) 95,802,412.45 $7,386,366
CELO Native Token Integration 3,242,542.15 $250,000
Ramp Infrastructure & Maintenance 3,242,542.15 $250,000
Expanded Asset Support and Forthcoming Product Launches 10,700,389.11 $650,000
Additional Growth Budget 46,368,352.79 $3,575,000
TOTAL 159,356,238.65 $12,286,366

Further details on custody and management of funds can be provided as needed.

Team

This proposal is submitted by Celo Core Co., representing the unified entity formed by cLabs and the Celo Foundation.

Opera will act as a key ecosystem partner and stakeholder responsible for execution across product development, distribution, and ecosystem growth initiatives supported by this proposal.

Conclusion

Celo Core Co., Opera, and the Celo community have made strides throughout the nearly five-year partnership to deliver on crypto’s potential for accessible, efficient financial solutions. With millions of MiniPay users, stablecoin transactions and daily active users consistently reaching new network all-time highs, and industry-leading adoption for real-world assets like Tether Gold, together we’ve demonstrated product-market-fit.

Through this evolved partnership, Opera can deepen its commitment to Celo’s long-term ecosystem growth, positioning a publicly traded tech leader with three decades of industry leading as one of the largest shareholders of the CELO asset.

This is a signal for the industry, and more importantly, a commitment to the importance of this partnership for years to come.

10 Likes
Celo Governance Call #87 | Mar 19th, 2026
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Yes! This is the way.

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want to make sure I’m understanding this correctly.

This proposal effectively allocates ~160M CELO to Opera in lieu of a cash payment, which introduces meaningful dilution (or at least supply overhang) for existing token holders.

I understand the strategic intent—aligning Opera as a long-term stakeholder and scaling MiniPay distribution—but the key question seems to be whether the expected user growth justifies the size of this allocation.

If this were a market purchase, it would clearly signal demand. In this case, it’s more akin to CELO using its token as equity to acquire distribution.

Can the team clarify:

  • Vesting terms and lockups

  • Any performance-based milestones tied to the allocation

  • Expected user growth targets that would make this ROI-positive for the ecosystem

Without that clarity, it’s difficult to evaluate whether this is a high-ROI strategic move or a costly dilution for token holders.

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5

Terrible idea. We could just as easily give these tokens to any very large company, like MasterCard, Visa, or Amex, and split the tokens between them.

The operative could buy 160 thousand coins and become an interested investor)))

1 Like
6

Makes a lot of sense.

Aligning Opera as a stakeholder of Celo goes beyond distribution, it creates long-term incentives tied to the network’s success.

This kind of alignment is key for sustainable growth, driving not only user acquisition via MiniPay, but also deeper engagement, higher TVL, and stronger ecosystem commitment over time.

Overall, it feels like a solid step toward longevity and real adoption at scale.

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7

Is Opera acquiring the 160 million Celo or receiving it for free?

If it is acquiring why not doing it market price to support Celo pricing and the Celo Foundation cover the liquidity gap providing more liquidity in Celo on exchanges?

It isn’t clear on the proposal if it is a token acquisition or a funding proposal in Celo tokens (which in my humble opinion wouldn’t make sense for a company that generated 100+ million usd in earnings last quarter).

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8

Well put. I would go beyond and add Celo token demand increase related milestones.

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Well, it’s certainly a major change, but I’m not sure it’s entirely positive.

MiniPay is currently Celo’s flagship app, and although Opera is a Nasdaq-listed company, realistically it’s still a secondary player in the browser market and not influential enough to significantly reshape the market.

1.6 billion tokens would be a huge amount—if the maximum supply is 10 billion, that would represent 16%. It raises the question of whether allocating such a large portion to Opera is truly the best direction.

Additionally, such a substantial allocation could create significant selling pressure in the market. There needs to be clear disclosure about details such as when these tokens could potentially be sold and any lock-up or vesting schedules.

If the tokens are not bought back from the circulating supply in the market before being allocated, this could present considerable risk from the perspective of existing token holders.

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10

Any such transfer of this size should be safeguarded by performance-based triggers that only release funding when certain milestones are hit. After three years the CELO can be returned if the KPIs aren’t met.

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11

Some good questions in the thread that need answers:
“The key question seems to be whether the expected user growth justifies the size of this allocation.”
“Is Opera acquiring the 160 million Celo or receiving it for free?”
“is a token acquisition or a funding proposal in Celo tokens”
“such a substantial allocation could create significant selling pressure in the market later on”

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12

@celogovernance How is this up for voting already when this post is just a day old and was presented at governance call only yesterday?

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Thanks for your continued support, Marco! It’s great to see the success of Zeno Vision reaching global scale on MiniPay - excited to see what’s next.

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Thanks for bringing these important questions to the discussion, Ginsburg. To your point regarding “equity for distribution”, this goes beyond distribution. This proposal would make Opera a stakeholder with aligned incentives for growing and scaling the Celo ecosystem, beyond the distribution we’ve built together with the growth of MiniPay. To address the additional questions:

  • The proposed 160M CELO allocation comes from unreleased treasury meaning, the market has already priced their eventual release. Since this CELO grant is in place of regular quarterly US Dollar-denominated grants, it effectively reduces sell pressure as the CELO allocations from the community fund previously would need to be swapped for stablecoins.

  • Opera is committed to holding the token allocation long-term.

  • The Opera MiniPay team will continue regular quarterly reporting, with performance measured by metrics including new wallet creation, increased usage of onchain financial tools (such as Virtual Bank Accounts and merchant payment integrations), and contribution to Celo network activity (Daily Active Users, stablecoin volume, TVL, etc.) Celo Core Co. and Opera are laser-focused on scaling MiniPay to create a billion dollar onchain economy, outlined in Vision 2030. MiniPay has grown to 14M+ activated wallets and more than 420M transactions. In the near term, Opera’s 50M Browser users who have earned rewards will get the opportunity to redeem those rewards in USDT on MiniPay. The scale of this onboarding is significant for Celo and the industry at large.

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15

Thanks for sharing your feedback, ABC. As a trusted ecosystem partner and the developer of our blockchain’s most-used app (MiniPay) over the past nearly five years, Opera’s role in supporting the growth of Celo is not directly comparable to those companies mentioned although we welcome their participation in the ecosystem.

This proposal reflects Opera’s and MiniPay’s belief in Celo and willingness to take a more direct stake in the success of the network.

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Thank you, Beni. Opera’s commitment to CELO over US Dollar-denominated grants indeed is representative of their deep long-term alignment with the future of Celo’s growth.

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The proposal is to replace Opera’s previous quarterly US Dollar-denominated grants with CELO. This is a funding proposal, which would be used to continue developing and scaling MiniPay beyond its 14M users today in support of the network’s growth through the integration of CELO within the wallet, ramp infrastructure and maintenance, expanded asset support, growth activations, and more.

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18

Thanks for the input, we’ll consider it.

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Our working relationship with Opera has a track record of steady growth and both parties are committed to growing MiniPay to provide financial inclusion to a billion people by 2030.

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20

With nearly 300 million global users across platforms, Opera’s role as a transformative influence should not be underestimated. Over the past 30 years, the company invented many key features of the modern internet, including tabs.

Opera is committed to holding the tokens long-term. These funds represent a three-year roadmap for ecosystem growth and other shared milestones.

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21

Thank you for consolidating these questions. We want to address each one individually here.

Is this an acquisition or a grant? This is a funding proposal. The 160M CELO replaces the quarterly US Dollar-denominated grants that have funded the Opera Celo partnership since 2021. Opera is accepting CELO as compensation — taking on price exposure to the native asset rather than receiving guaranteed cash payments. That is a deliberate expression of long-term conviction in CELO’s trajectory.

Does the expected user growth justify the allocation? MiniPay has already demonstrated clear product-market fit: 14+ million activated wallets, 420 million completed peer-to-peer transactions, and over $153 million in stablecoin transaction volume in December 2025 alone. Opera also has 50 million browser users with earned rewards who represent a near-term conversion pipeline into MiniPay and USDT. This is not speculative distribution — it is an extension of a proven model into new geographies and user bases.

Would this significant allocation create selling pressure? The 160M CELO comes from the unreleased treasury, not from the circulating supply. Replacing quarterly grants (which required Opera to sell CELO for stablecoins to fund operations) with a long-term holding commitment materially reduces recurring sell pressure.

1 Like