Description

Episode 11 of the BlockChain Reaction podcast brings Marek Olszewski. Marek is the co-founder of the Celo (CELO-USD) blockchain and the CTO of cLabs. Celo is an EVM blockchain that is currently one of the top 20 blockchains by Total Value Locked. I enjoyed this conversation quite a bit. Topics we covered during the podcast include but are not limited to:

• Marek's MIT background and pivot to blockchain
• Celo's optimization for mobile payments
• Why the Celo team picked Ethereum Virtual Machine over other options
• Getting the UE right in crypto wallets
• Why do people even need decentralized options?
• Speed capabilities of the chain
• Deep dive on the real mission of the chain's developers and carbon offsetting
• Battling crypto's anti-climate narrative with PoS consensus
• The robustness of Celo's DeFi footprint
• Bringing more global markets onto the network
• How merchants are using Celo to reduce transaction costs with customers

My take: getting payments right is a big deal. Even though the western world seems to be largely apathetic to permission-less systems in my opinion, Celos's global adoption is very encouraging and I think this is a chain to keep an eye on. I hope you guys enjoy this episode. Remember, you can get access to the full downloadable version of every BCR podcast episode by subscribing to my Seeking Alpha research service BlockChain Reaction. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of myself and my guest. None of this is investment advice or a solicitation for you to buy any financial instrument. I am not a licensed investment advisor. This content is for information purposes only. This episode was recorded on April 6th, 2023.