Hey Celo fam 
We’re excited to share our first public announcement of the Cosmo-Local Credit (CLC) DAO - a new layer we’re building at Grassroots Economics to help Celo scale into the settlement network for the long tail of real-world obligations.
Most “RWAs” talk about bringing big traditional assets on-chain. We’re focused on the other side of the iceberg: everyday redeemable commitments - vouchers, invoices, service credits, clinic/transport entitlements, gift cards, university tuition, labor contracts, mutual-aid pledges, and verified public-good work. These are real claims on real delivery… but today they’re siloed, illiquid, hard to trust, and hard to route across communities.
Commitment-first clearing (not speculation-first trading)
Commitment Pools are agent/community-run mini-clearing houses where redeemable vouchers can be listed, priced via a value index, swapped within limits, and settled only against real inventory/guarantees - with immutable on-chain auditability.
The CLC layer connects many pools so credits can route across trusted markets (multi-hop) and clear by netting flows - meaning fewer situations where everything stalls because someone needs cash right now.
Why this is a big deal for Celo
If we get this right, Celo becomes the home for a massive category of on-chain activity:
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Real settlement volume (not just trading churn)
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A long tail of RWAs measured in fulfilled commitments, not hype
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More transactions and TVL driven by organic on-ramping, liquidity for redemption + routing + off-ramps
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A practical bridge between humanitarian, livelihoods, climate/public goods, and everyday commerce - all on a single open settlement fabric
What the CLC DAO does
Scaling beyond one pool needs shared infrastructure that no single steward should control: safety rules, monitoring, routing standards, off-ramps, and optional insurance buffers.
The CLC DAO is the commons-governed layer that funds and governs that shared safety infrastructure, with guardrails like timelocks, quorums, transparent policy logs, and credible exit (forkability). The DAO’s north star is simple:
Maximize settlement velocity - how quickly outstanding commitments become fulfilled - while preserving care, fairness, and resilience.
Tokens (high-level)
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CLC is the governance token for setting the network’s risk envelope and mandates.
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sCLC is a time-bounded receipt for staked CLC that can grant access to protocol fee budget and governance.
This is infrastructure financing, not a promise of yield - and we’re designing it to stay non-extractive.
What’s next
We’re assembling the remaining pieces and moving toward a CLC token launch later this year as part of this commons-governed scaling path.
If you’re a builder, partner, liquidity provider, or just excited about real-world settlement on-chain, we’d love to connect:
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pool stewards & community networks
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off-ramp/on-ramp partners
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lenders, market makers / routing operators
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humanitarian + climate/public-good implementers and certifiers
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Celo ecosystem builders (wallet UX, dashboards, SDKs)
This is a big moment for us - and it means a lot to share it here with the Celo community.
Contact: info@grassecon.org
(We can share the white paper draft + current implementation status on request.)
Check out our ground breaking work on https://Sarafu.Network
See the traction so far on Dune Analytics: https://dune.com/grassrootseconomics/sarafu-network
Read see some previous lead up articles:
Future of Debt: The Future of Debt - by Will Ruddick
Sarafu Wallet: Sarafu Wallet - Development Announcement
Long Tail Future of Celo: The Future of Celo - Grassroots Economics
Previous Cosmo-Local Thread posts: Celo Cosmo-Local Credit Network - Season 1 Funding Proposal
Celo’s mission is to build a monetary system that creates the conditions of prosperity for all.
Let’s make this happen by building the Celo ecosystem into a network where everyday commitments find a path to settlement 
