Summary
This proposal seeks approval from the Celo Community to vote with the community MENTO token allocation to activate transferability of the MENTO token. Initially launched as a non-transferable governance token, the MENTO token was designed with a future option to become transferable contingent upon the protocol’s maturity, as well as community and market readiness. Given Mento’s progress, product traction, and with the strategic focus on stablecoin-based onchain FX markets, enabling token transferability is now timely and beneficial.
Background
Via CGP#180 “Mento Spin-off and Launch of the MENTO token”, the Celo Community approved the transfer of governance over the Mento Protocol (smart contracts, Reserve, etc.) from CELO to MENTO token holders. CGP #235 enables MENTO governance.
50M MENTO tokens are allocated to the Celo Community, empowering members to have a direct voice in shaping the future of the Mento Protocol through governance voting. For full details, see the forum post Empowering the Celo Community with Mento Governance Rights.
This proposal seeks the approval from the Celo Community for the community fund to approve MENTO token transferability.
The MENTO token was introduced to provide decentralized governance and alignment among the protocol’s stakeholders. Transferability was deliberately deferred to ensure controlled growth and community-focused governance participation. The completion of the Mento governance transition allows the Mento Community to take the next step in Mento’s decentralization roadmap by seeking MENTO token transferability.
Anyone can engage in Mento Governance by locking MENTO token and receiving veMENTO, which grants voting power for protocol proposals. The longer tokens are locked, the greater the voting power. Mento token holders can find more information on governance on the Governance Docs Page or directly by using https://governance.mento.org/
Motivation
Activating MENTO token transferability is expected to:
- enhance liquidity and accessibility, enabling a wider and more diverse group of stakeholders to actively participate in Mento governance;
- facilitate deeper decentralization by incentivizing and empowering new contributors, further distributing governance influence across the community;
- strengthen the protocol’s resilience and community ownership by further decentralizing token holdings;
- align token utility with current market expectations, working towards tangible economic incentives that drive innovation, active participation, and strategic collaborations within the broader decentralized finance ecosystem.
Rationale
Mento has reached significant milestones demonstrating the community’s readiness for token transferability:
- Mento decentralized local currency stablecoins are among the growing stablecoins in the industry with 15 local stablecoins live, that include all G7s and key African, LatAm, and South East Asian currencies
- The Mento Asset Exchange, integrated into leading solutions like Squid Router or Opera MiniPay, processed over 550 million transactions in 2024.
- Mento has over 8m users with around 400k daily active users and strategic partnerships with major global organizations, including Deutsche Telekom, Opera, Chainlink, RedStone, Valora, Fonbnk, Yellow Card, and many more.
- MENTO is about to unlock the next stage of growth with onchain FX trading.
Technical Implementation
Upon approval, the unpause() function on the MENTO token contract will be invoked, enabling the transferability of the MENTO token.
Governance Vote
In an upcoming CGP, the community is asked to vote on the following proposal:
“Do you approve the activation of transferability for the MENTO token?”
- YES – Activate MENTO token transferability.
- NO – Maintain current non-transferable status.
Legal disclaimer
Mento is a decentralized and community-governed platform. This is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase any MENTO tokens, and is not an offering, advertisement, solicitation, confirmation, statement or any financial promotion that can be construed as an invitation or inducement to engage in any investment activity or similar. You should not rely on the content here for advice of any kind, including legal, investment, financial, tax, or other professional advice, and such content is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional.
The token utility explorations should be seen merely as preliminary conceptual ideas, which are likely to be subject to substantial change. Before any implementation, extensive analysis is required to get a clear picture on aspects such as legal/regulatory risks, technical feasibility, resource availability, product roadmap etc.
Any documentation or statements are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice, a prospectus, a key information document, or any other similar document. No prospectus, key information document, or similar document will be provided at any time. There is no guarantee of the completeness and accuracy of the documentation statements provided. All numbers and forward-looking statements mentioned here in the forum, as well as any accompanying documentation and/or statements reflect mere estimations/indications. They are not guaranteed and may change substantially.