OSLO, Norway and SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Web browser Opera (NASDAQ: OPRA), and Celo, an open-source blockchain ecosystem focused on making decentralized financial (DeFi) systems and tools accessible to anyone with a smartphone, and today announced that Opera will integrate Celo Native Asset (CELO), Celo Dollar (cUSD), and Celo Euro (cEUR) stablecoins in its Crypto Wallet. This integration enables millions of Opera users to make purchases, send peer-to-peer remittances, trade, or cash in and cash out in Celo's native asset or cUSD stablecoin from the browser's built-in crypto wallet. Opera has also joined the Celo Alliance for Prosperity, a mission-aligned network of 140+ organizations fostering social impact and financial inclusion through the use of blockchain technology.

cUSD and cEUR are both stable digital assets that track the U.S. dollar and Euro, respectively. With cUSD and cEUR, users can transfer value and engage in global financial activities faster, cheaper, and more easily on their smartphone. Stablecoins can mitigate the risk of cryptocurrency volatility, helping to ensure that a transfer's value tracks a fiat value when sent and delivered. Both the Celo Dollar and Celo Euro are supported by multiple digital assets in the Celo Reserve, including BTC and ETH.

"Celo is putting financial apps and services into the pockets of millions of people, for whom their phone is the most important device that they use. This mobile-first approach directly aligns with the needs of our hundreds of millions of mobile users," said Cuautemoc Weber, Head of Crypto and VP Business Development and Mobile at Opera. "We chose to integrate cUSD and cEUR as our first stablecoins, as a large part of our user base lives in markets like Africa, the Philippines, and LATAM, where access to financial services—such as cash out options—is limited, fiat volatility can be challenging, and remittance costs are high. Celo makes this possible with just a mobile phone number."

The move is a further step in Opera's strategy to eliminate the hurdles associated with using blockchain technologies. In December 2018, the Norwegian company introduced the first blockchain browser, Opera for Android, with a built-in crypto wallet and dApp explorer. Opera then added a built-in crypto wallet to its desktop browser as well as to its iOS browser.

"As the first major browser to integrate a crypto wallet, Opera is pioneering a familiar tool – a mobile browser – to put usable crypto directly in the hands of real people," said Rene Reinsberg, co-founder of Celo. "Opera's focus on key growth markets, in particular the US and EU, Africa, Southeast Asia and LATAM, will enable these mobile-savvy communities to interact with Celo assets and the Celo ecosystem with ease. Millions of people will now have access to new savings, P2P payments, and cash in, cash out services, in addition to major stablecoins."

CELO and cUSD are now available in the Opera wallet via Ramp. Users can purchase and interact with these assets just like they can with other supported assets in the Opera wallet, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Support for cEUR is also underway.

Availability:

Celo is currently supported in the Opera browser on Android. To get started, please download the Opera browser from the Google Play store.

About Opera

Opera is a global web innovator. Opera's browsers, news products and fintech solutions are the trusted choice of hundreds of millions of users worldwide. Opera is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (OPRA). Download the Opera browser from www.opera.com.

About Celo

Celo is a mobile-first, open-source ecosystem of technologies, organizations and individuals that all share a common mission of building a financial system that creates the conditions for prosperity for everyone. The Celo ecosystem includes a decentralized, proof-of-stake blockchain technology stack (Celo Platform), a native asset (CELO), two stablecoins (cUSD and cEUR), and the Celo Foundation's Alliance for Prosperity, with over 140 organizations around the world, including Deutsche Telekom, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, Anchorage, Coinbase, GSMA, Grameen Foundation, Prosegur, Abra, and cLabs, a service organization dedicated to growing and developing the Celo ecosystem. For more information on Celo, please visit celo.org.

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SOURCE Opera Limited

Media Contacts: Lucinda Bell, cLabs, working on Celo, press@celo.org, Julia Szyndzielorz, Senior PR Manager, Opera, press-team@opera.com