NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Move over Libra. Facebook’s controversial stablecoin initiative has a new challenger that wants to change the financial system and reimagine how people can gain access to services. Fifty top companies in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have launched a new platform called Celo, an open blockchain that’s designed to drive significantly more financial inclusion by reaching people around the world – not through banks, branches and traditional institutions – but through 5.6 billion smartphones.

Coinbase Ventures, Bitcoin.com, Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain are among the leading technology providers, nonprofits, mobile wallets, payment processors and global investment firms supporting the new ecosystem that plans to offer mobile-friendly financial tools built on top of Celo’s open blockchain platform.

The organization says its goal is to push the mainstream adoption of digital currencies by “empowering anyone with a phone number towards a prosperous future.” However, like the Libra Association, Celo will leverage its consortium to support developers building applications primarily for its stablecoin, dubbed the “Celo Dollar”.