text: CELO Crypto shrugs off Monday market gloom with Celo Connect conference – PSWC 2010
  The crypto market is off to a slow start this Monday, with most of the biggest projects losing or trading sideways. However, one project is grabbing attention today, standing out from the pack with double-digit gains to start the week: Celo (CELO-USD). Thanks to a news-rich conference, crypto CELO kicks off. Now, investors are flocking to the crypto payments game in hopes that it can keep pace.
  The Celo network is designed specifically to address the adoption of cryptography in smartphone technology. As such, it showcases one of the world's first mobile-only blockchain networks. According to the developers, Celo already has over 1,000 projects on its platform, all designed to facilitate decentralized finance (DeFi) in the palm of your hand.
  The use cases on the Celo network are mostly related to providing stablecoin support to its users. Celo has several of its own stablecoins, including one pegged to the US dollar and another pegged to the euro. Users can store these assets on non-custodial wallet services on the platform. Alternatively, they can swap them. The network also supports an innovative public key service tied to phone numbers. Completing a transaction is as easy as sharing a phone number, eliminating long and random wallet addresses.
  Celo may not be the most well-known crypto project, but it is slowly becoming one of the biggest. Now among the top 100 projects in the world, it boasts a market capitalization of over $1.8 billion. This is partly thanks to a large number of leading investors, including by Andreessen Horowitz crypto investment branch a16z and To block (NYSE:SQ) founder Jack Dorsey.
  CELO Crypto Sees Big Gains as Connect Conference Begins
  As the CELO crypto continues to make its way to the top Layer 1 ecosystems in the world, developers are looking to excite investors and attract new funds. Today, Celo does this through the Celo Connect conference.
  Conferences in the crypto world are not uncommon. These events give developers a way to offload big announcements, update roadmaps, and get some good publicity. Celo's Connect conference is a network-specific event, taking place over two days in Barcelona. This morning saw the kick off of the event.
  So, the first big announcement from Celo's conference? It is rolling out its "Connecting the world" initiative. Connect the World aims to expand the adoption of crypto payments globally, through cash incentives. Basically, the network will spend $20 million to reward payment providers who implement FiatConnect services on their platforms.
  FiatConnect is an on-ramp through which users can easily pay with crypto. It allows users to quickly convert fiat to crypto of their choice. The service is also an exit ramp, allowing funds to be converted back into fiat and offloaded quickly as well.
  This news helps to push CELO crypto prices up easily. With gains of over 13% today, this coin is one of the best performing assets of the week. Volume also continues to skyrocket; with over $530 million in CELO crypto hands trading, volume has more than doubled in the past 24 hours.