The blockchain platform Celo, designed primarily for mobile use, has successfully transitioned to Ethereum Layer-2 after two years of dedicated development, marking a significant step in its evolution from a standalone blockchain to an interconnected ecosystem.
Now hosted on Ethereum’s Layer-2 via Optimism’s OP Stack, Celo is utilizing EigenDA, a data availability protocol crafted by EigenLayer, which enables it to reintegrate into the Ethereum ecosystem with augmented capabilities and focus.
According to an announcement made on March 3, the upgrade has resulted in the cessation of the Celo Layer 1 client sync, with the Layer 2 client taking over operations. The cLabs team emphasized, “This is not just an upgrade. It is a return home.”
Gm Happy L2 day to all who celebrate! 
https://t.co/QgwZZTi0xp
— Rene | Celo ◘ 
(@RegenRene) March 25, 2025
CELO Token Now Integrated with Ethereum
The transition initiative was initially proposed by Celo developer cLabs in July 2023, followed by a series of testnets conducted in July and September 2024, and February 2025.
Rene Reinsberg, co-founder of Celo and president of the Celo Foundation, described the migration as a “natural progression” towards fostering “the conditions of prosperity for all” and building “a robust on-chain economy for the future.”
By leveraging Ethereum’s infrastructure, Celo has enhanced its security and interoperability for millions of daily users, according to Reinsberg.
Additionally, the CELO token is now natively situated on Ethereum. Tokens on Layer 2 represent those bridged from Ethereum, as reported in the migration announcement.
Marek Olszewski, co-founder of Celo and CEO of cLabs, noted, “Since launch, Celo has maintained close alignment with Ethereum and has always viewed itself as a cultural extension of the community with a rich Regen culture and a focus on mobile DeFi applications.”
“The migration to Layer 2 marks an exhilarating return home for Celo, bringing together the strengths of both networks to advance Web3 with a global impact,” he added.
A Broad Ecosystem Migration
Celo’s transition is not happening in isolation; it supports an extensive ecosystem comprising over 1,000 projects that have now migrated to the Ethereum network.
With key integrations from various infrastructures, Celo has embraced partnerships with platforms such as Uniswap, Curve, Chainlink, RedStone, Hyperlane, LayerZero, Wormhole, Axelar, Rarible, Infura, Quicknode, Alchemy, ThirdWeb, Self, and Aave v3.
Day 1 partners include node providers, RPC providers, indexers, bridges, and exchanges that have pledged to upgrade within two hours of the first Layer-2 block, with notable players like Alchemy, Hyperlane, Wormhole, Binance, Coinbase, Bitfinex, Kraken, and Gate.io among them.
2/ @CeloDevs will now have access to Supernode: Alchemy’s scalable, always-on node API infrastructure. Developers will soon have access to additional tooling, including: → Token API: Easily access token balances & metadata → Transfers API: Simplify asset movement tracking
— Celo.eth 
(@Celo) March 24, 2025
The team highlighted that users will experience enhanced interoperability, faster transactions, and low fees averaging just $0.0005. Furthermore, a portion of every transaction fee will be allocated to carbon offsetting and sustainability initiatives.
The platform has also improved its core functionalities, reducing block times to one second from the previous five seconds.
Celo will retain its signature features, such as SocialConnect, which allows users to make payments using only a phone number. Fee abstraction will also enable transaction fees to be settled with ERC-20 tokens like USDT and USDC.
Moreover, a native bridging feature with Ethereum is set to decrease dependence on external bridges, thus enhancing security—a crucial aspect for Celo’s extensive user base utilizing the platform for everyday transactions. Use cases include dollar stablecoin savings in Opera’s MiniPay Wallet, sending crypto via Valora, and recording environmental data on-chain through GainForest.
This is amazing to see. Improving worldwide access to basic payments/finance has always been a key way that Ethereum can be beneficial for the world, and it’s great to see @Celo gaining traction. See also their recent posts: * @Celo becoming an Ethereum L2: https://t.co/08U7G7q69s*… https://t.co/Qq7vcmZ6e3
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 25, 2024
On the protocol level, the responsibilities of validators will evolve from operating the consensus protocol to temporarily managing community RPC nodes. Validator rewards will now be distributed through smart contract execution, departing from the previous epoch block method.
A centralized sequencer will handle transaction sequencing with plans to transition to decentralized sequencing in the future, a function that was previously governed by validators under the consensus protocol.
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