A leading global browser and AI agent company, and Celo Core Co., stewards of Celo, the Ethereum Layer 2 built for the real world with the leading programmable rails for global finance, today announced the commercial framework for their continued partnership, subject to Celo community governance approval. The partnership model is based on an allocation of 160 million CELO to Opera, which will in turn enable Opera’s continued deep integration and distribution of Celo stablecoins and, further establishing Opera’s long-term incentive to support the success of the ecosystem as a key stakeholder.
The agreed terms have been submitted to the Celo community forum for approval, consistent with the network’s decentralized treasury governance model. The restructured terms reflect the scale and maturity of the partnership, and Opera’s genuine belief in and commitment to the long-term value of the Celo ecosystem and its native governance token, CELO.
The announcement marks the latest development in Opera’s nearly five-year partnership with the Celo ecosystem, which began in June 2021. From this early partnership milestone, Opera and key Celo contributors have driven rapid adoption of accessible stablecoin payments following the launch of MiniPay in September 2023. In December 2025, Opera and Celo announced an extension of their strategic partnership to provide financial inclusion to a billion people by 2030.
Since MiniPay’s launch, Opera and Celo have expanded the self-custodial stablecoin wallet to serve 66+ countries, facilitating over 420 million transactions, and growing to more than 14 million account registrations. With MiniPay as a core driver, Celo has emerged as the leading global financial rails for everyday stablecoin adoption, positioned as the leading Ethereum Layer 2 by daily active users and strongest transport layer for USD₮ with 700,000+ Daily Active Users and 4.23+ million Weekly Active USD₮ Users.
That growth reflects the fit between MiniPay’s target markets and the payment infrastructure Celo was purpose-built to provide. Launched on mainnet Earth Day 2020 with architecture optimized for mobile-first, real-world financial use cases, Celo offers a full suite of tools optimized for speed, low cost, and accessibility at scale. Among the most consequential features for consumer adoption are fee abstraction, which allows users to pay transaction costs in ERC-20 tokens like stablecoins rather than a native gas token, and phone number-to-wallet mapping, which abstracts the complexity for blockchain addresses.
The three-year agreement grows Opera from distribution partner to a network stakeholder, and aligns Opera’s and MiniPay’s success with the network’s over the long run. The partnership also carries a significant near-term growth catalyst: over 50 million Opera browser users have earned rewards and are positioned to redeem them as USD₮ within MiniPay.
“Our partnership with Opera has evolved significantly over nearly five years, and we’re proud to take this next step together as our joint mission of accessible, effective stablecoin solutions becomes a reality for users worldwide,” said Rene Reinsberg, Celo co-founder. “The path toward a billion-dollar onchain economy has never been so clear, and Opera’s belief in CELO reaffirms our joint commitment to the ecosystem reaching this goal.”
“Celo’s infrastructure and mission-aligned ecosystem have been instrumental in our work building and scaling powerful mobile financial technology with MiniPay,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile, Opera. “Through this continued partnership, we’re making a long-term commitment to the Celo ecosystem and to bringing that utility to our global user base.”
Opera and Celo Core Co. will build their presence in Latin America and Southeast Asia with a roadshow to drive grassroots adoption and grow the Mini App ecosystem, beginning in Vietnam and the Philippines next month.
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