Mento Labs

🎆 A Mento cUSD milestone! 👀https://lnkd.in/emWPHAp7

The missing piece from my stablecoin series: How do you actually trade USD and local stablecoins fairly? I've written about how USD stablecoins are changing global trade, and how local stablecoins could transform intra-African trade. But there's a practical question: How do you exchange these stablecoins onchain in a fair, efficient, and scalable way? My colleague Andy Tudhope published research on exactly this - what's already been built, how these systems work, and what problems remain unsolved. What stablecoins + onchain FX could enable: ✅ Same rates for everyone, whether you’re trading $100 or $100M ✅ Credibly neutral markets that don’t allow price fixing or manipulation ✅ Smart routing of trade: a TZS↔KES trade might go direct, or through USD, or through another currency - whatever's cheapest This isn't theoretical - it's happening and scaling rapidly. The infrastructure is being built right now by companies like Mento Labs (driving $15B+ onchain FX volume) using Fixed Price Market Makers (FPMMs). Onchain markets have been experimenting at scale with Request-for-Quotes (RFQs) for trade routing. While Africa will be among the first to benefit from onchain FX, the opportunity is universall - a $7.5 Trillion daily FX market up for grabs. For the local stablecoins vision to work, we need fair FX infrastructure. This could be how we get there. Read the full deep-dive: https://lnkd.in/gGC5FAnJ How do you see the intersection of stablecoins and FX markets evolving? LAVA #Stablecoins #OnchainFX #Africa #ForeignExchange #USD #Fintech #Trade #LocalStablecoins

🚨 Mento x Wormhole 🚨 We’re thrilled to announce that Mento has selected Wormhole as its official interoperability provider to bring multichain FX onchain at scale. Through this integration, Mento will enable real-time movement and exchange of 15+ decentralized stablecoins, including cUSD, cEUR, and cKES, across 40+ blockchain ecosystems. This milestone expands Mento’s FX infrastructure to other chains and unlocks cross-chain liquidity and stable, real-world pricing for global currencies. “The Mento Platform aims to be the leading FX infrastructure for borderless finance,” said Markus Franke, CEO at Mento Labs. “This integration with Wormhole allows us to scale that vision globally, enabling anyone, anywhere to trade and move currencies in real-time, across chains, with instant finality and zero reliance on legacy infrastructure.” “The FX market is one of the largest and most critical financial systems in the world, but it hasn’t evolved to match the demands of a 24/7 digital economy,” said Robinson Burkey, Co-Founder of Wormhole Foundation. “This integration begins the process of moving FX onchain, making it faster, more accessible, and more interoperable across blockchain ecosystems and unlocking another financial tool for a growing market of investors.” Mento is building a programmable, decentralized FX layer for the internet economy, will be accessible across chains and markets. 👉 Full announcement: https://lnkd.in/eQ224v5S

After powering 15 currencies, reaching 7M+ users, and processing over 550M transactions, Mento is evolving! What began with decentralized stablecoins is growing into something bigger. Today, we are unveiling a fresh look, a new website, and an extended mission: To build the core infrastructure for the future of onchain FX Discover the new Mento: https://www.mento.org/

📣 Mento Adopts the Chainlink Data Standard to Power Decentralized Stablecoins We’re thrilled to announce that Mento has adopted the Chainlink Data Standard, leveraging Chainlink Price Feeds on Celo Foundation to help power ~$20B in annualized volume on the Mento onchain FX and stablecoin platform. With 15+ stablecoins on the Mento Platform actively used across remittances, mobile money, and FX trading, Chainlink provides the high-quality, tamper-proof data needed to ensure fair, real-time pricing on the Mento Asset Exchange. - High-quality, aggregated pricing data - Proven reliability through extreme market conditions - Decentralized infrastructure with robust transparency “Adopting the Chainlink data standard was an obvious choice and enables Mento to grow its portfolio of stablecoins and maintain the integrity of the Mento Reserve ratios in real-time.” – Markus Franke, CEO of Mento Labs Together with Chainlink, Mento is bringing secure, real-world FX onchain for 7M+ global users. 🌍 Read the announcement: https://lnkd.in/dJtAVJ7J

Africa Tech Summit Highlights: Web3, Stablecoins and Innovation 🌍 Last week, Mento Labs, in collaboration with our partners—Celo Foundation, cLabs, Haraka, Clixpesa, Mercy Corps Ventures, Fonbnk, Kickstarter, Pretium Finance, MiniPay, and Celo Africa DAO—kicked off Africa Tech Summit Nairobi in style with a Web3 Mixer: Cocktails & Convos! 🎉 It was an incredible evening of networking, insightful discussions, and collaboration with founders, developers, investors, and tech enthusiasts. Victoria Calmon, Mento Labs, moderated a panel on “Building a Stablecoin Ecosystem” featuring: William Le, Haraka Derrick Kachisa, Clixpesa Derrick Bundi, Pretium Finance Duncan Muchangi, Fonbnk The discussion covered understanding the need for stablecoins in Africa, use cases and impact, and the future outlook. Key Moments from ATS Nairobi: Mento shared a booth with Opera MiniPay and Celo Foundation during Africa Tech Summit Nairobi. Over 2 days, attendees from across the continent and around the world came together to learn and network. Victoria Calmon joined a panel discussion about “Stablecoins in Africa: Stability & Innovation Powering Digital Payments” with: Daniel Kimotho, Celo Foundation Sebastien Piolat, Web3 BD Director, Opera Duncan Muchangi, Fonbnk (Moderator) Victoria shared insights from the recent Mento user survey, revealing the top stablecoin use cases in Africa are savings, payments and remittances. She discussed challenges and barriers for stablecoin adoption like poor user experience, high on/off-ramp fees, unreliable internet connectivity, and skepticism of crypto, while highlighting the immense potential for growth with a young and tech savvy population embracing DeFi, cross-border trade, and e-commerce powered by stablecoins. Announcements and Milestones: MiniPay hits 5M+ users across 50+ countries! Mento powers the “drag & drop” Pockets swaps feature for seamless conversions between cUSD, USDT, and USDC. Make a difference with cUSD donations! Volunteers from CodeYetu #kidsthatcode are teaching underprivileged kids in Kenya how to code. Support them by donating in cUSD via MiniPay! Pretium Finance launched its standalone app! Users can now seamlessly pay for utilities, groceries, and restaurants with Mento decentralized stablecoins like cKES and cUSD—with instant settlement in mobile money (M-PESA). Swypt io integrates cKES! Kenya’s first decentralized stablecoin is now live on Swypt’s digital payments platform, enabling easier transactions and cross-border payments. What’s Next? We’re excited to continue the conversation at ETHDenver and MWC —see you there! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/evXP9VF9 What are your thoughts on stablecoin adoption in Africa? Drop your insights below! 

Don't miss Africa Tech Summit connecting tech corporates, investors, startups, fintech & climate leaders at the leading Africa tech event. 🌍 Meet Mento Labs on booth #71 with Celo Foundation and Opera MiniPay. Our teams will showcase live demonstrations, revealing how MiniPay is transforming the landscape of fast, easy, and affordable payments. Register now! 🗓️ Feb 12 & 13 📍 Sarit Center, Nairobi Agenda & more info: https://lnkd.in/geyhZCt

Here's a look back at Mento's year in review 🥳 • $10 million raised • 3 decentralized stablecoins launched • 25 industry events • and more! From all of us at Mento Labs, we want to thank our partners and community for making 2024 a year to remember: Celo Foundation, Opera MiniPay, cLabs, Fonbnk, Valora, Kotani Pay, Haraka, Pretium Finance, Payd HQ, Clixpesa, Paychant, GoodDollar.org, BitGifty (Celo Camp s8) and many others! We are excited to reach new milestones in 2025! Check out the highlights ⬇️

Happy New Year from the Mento Labs team! 🥳 As we bid farewell to 2024, we extend our best wishes for a joyful and prosperous holiday season to all. Looking forward to reaching new milestones with our partners and fantastic community in 2025!

Wishing you and your loved ones Happy Holidays from the Mento Labs team! 🎉