Chain Highlight: Three Celo-based social impact projects
In my blog post, “In the social impact space, is there one blockchain to rule them all?”, I made the argument that there is no standout chain that is dominating the space. Rather, in the crypto and blockchain for social impact space, there are amazing projects being launched on a diversity of chains, including some of the top ten blockchains, some of the smaller chains, and everything in between.
That being said, over the next couple of weeks, I will be zeroing in on some of the blockchain ecosystems that are prominent in the space, with the purpose of highlighting the social impact projects being built on or utilizing these blockchains. It goes without saying that this is by no means an endorsement to purchase the cryptocurrency associated with the blockchains I’ll be highlighting. Rather, the purpose of these posts is simply to highlight the great work being done by projects operating in the space.
To start things off today, I will be highlighting three Celo-based social impact projects.
Kotani Pay
Most online banking apps and crypto trading platforms require a smartphone, access to the internet, a bank account, and some base knowledge of the technology. However, what if individuals don’t have access to a smartphone or the internet, or don’t have a bank account? Traditionally, these individuals have been unable to access the mobile banking services that many rely on every day to transact, putting them at a disadvantage, and closing them off from the benefits of easy to access financial services.
Kotani Pay, a start up based out of Kenya, hopes to resolve this issue by allowing unbanked populations in developing countries to send and receive money via blockchain technology without the need for internet connectivity, a smart phone, or a bank account.
Whereas most mobile financial apps require a smartphone with access to data or Wi-Fi, Kotani Pay makes use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), the primary mobile interface in the developing world, to provide users access to their blockchain-based platform. Essentially, by dialing a short code in their phone, users will be given access to a menu through which they can easily convert crypto to fiat, and vice-versa. Users can use this to move funds between their blockchain and mobile wallet, without the need for public or private keys, simplifying the process for transacting with cryptocurrency.
Kotani Pay makes use of Celo dollars (cUSD), a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, which is located on the Celo Platform, to protect users against the volatility of traditionally cryptocurrencies. Users can change their cUSD for mobile money in local currencies using Kotani Pay’s digital wallet.
Celo Climate Collective
On October 6, 2021, the Celo Foundation announced via Medium the introduction of a new Climate Collective with the goal of fighting climate change. The Climate Collective will be competing for XPRIZE’s $100M carbon removal challenge funded by Elon Musk’s Foundation.
The Climate Collective, which features 10 companies including Curve Labs, Kolektivo, Moss, and Regen Network, will take a community driven approach focusing on the tokenization of rainforests and other carbon sequestering assets. The initiative “will propose that over the next 4 years, these tokenized trees be added to the Celo Reserve so that Celo stablecoins can be backed in part by rainforests, which are essential in the fight against climate change.”
According to the Celo Foundation:
“We see this as an opportunity to have a massively positive impact on the world by sequestering carbon through preservation and mass planting of trees. We strongly believe we have a serious shot at reaching this goal.”
Over the next four years, the goal is for 40% of the Celo reserve to transition to tokenized rainforest and other carbon sequestering assets, which based on today's numbers, would allow for the protocol to own $340M worth of newly planted rainforest, representing roughly 135 million large rainforest trees.
ImpactMarket and the Refugee International Organisation
Unconditional Basic Income, or UBI for short, has gained a lot of steam around the world lately, as many countries have pondered the idea of implementing UBI as a way to replace outdated social welfare programs with one that provides greater agency to beneficiaries. COVID-19 has only increased the momentum as governments urgently attempted to put in place adequate supports for those adversely impacted by COVID-19.
One project, operated by the Refugee Integration Organisation (RIO), is using the innovations of blockchain and cryptocurrency to provide UBI to individuals residing in three refugee camps. This project makes use of the Celo cryptocurrency to provide $1.50 of daily UBI to refugees, which is delivered in local currencies with no need for repayment. The project is housed on ImpactMarket, a “decentralized anti-poverty system”, and makes use of USSD technology to ensure it is accessible to the most vulnerable refugees, regardless of if they have access to a smartphone or the internet.
Through this project, over $71,000 USD has already been distributed to over 2,500 refugees, as of August 2021. Recipients are able to make use of the funds to purchase life essentials, helping transition refugee camps to self-sustaining communities.
What are some other exciting projects operating on the Celo blockchain? Which blockchain should we highlight next? Tweet us at @Crypto_Altruism, we’d love to hear from you!
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