The Celo Foundation, stewards of the mobile-first, Ethereum Layer-2 Celo blockchain built for real-world payments, and Opera (NASDAQ: OPRA) the company behind MiniPay, a leading non-custodial stablecoin wallet built exclusively on Celo, announced at Binance Blockchain Week the extension of their long-standing strategic partnership to make open, low-cost digital stablecoin payments ubiquitous around the world.
Since launching on Celo in September 2023, MiniPay has grown to 11 million unique activated wallets and facilitated over 300 million transactions, optimized by Celo’s pioneering L2 with fast, low-cost, real-world payments, sub-cent fees, and near-instant finality.
MiniPay’s global distribution supports Celo’s emergence as the number one Ethereum Layer 2 by daily active users (DAUs) and #1 transport layer for USD₮ by weekly active users (WAUs). With over 700K DAUs, and more than 3 million WAUs of USD₮.
Celo and MiniPay connect Celo-based stablecoin infrastructure with several digital payment platforms, including Binance, Transak, Transfi, YellowCard, Daimo, and Noah. Just weeks ago, MiniPay rolled out support for Mercado Pago and PIX payment functionality, allowing for stablecoin to real-time payment transactions in Argentina and Brazil. This early pilot will expand to all users globally to further reduce off-ramping friction.
“MiniPay is crypto’s killer user case, leveraging Celo’s infrastructure to make stablecoins useful for everyday people around the world,” said Rene Reinsberg, Celo co-founder and Celo Foundation President. “Our longstanding partnership has grown with the industry, from a simple integration in the Opera Mini browser to scaling the fastest-growing Web3 app, with millions of users. With product market fit and our thesis confirmed, we’re ready to double down on this exclusive partnership together to supercharge stablecoin adoption in the real world.”
“Our goal with MiniPay has always been simple: to give people a reliable stablecoin wallet that allows them to receive payments, save, and send payments – no matter where they are,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera. “By continuing to team up with Celo’s tech and ecosystem, we’re turning that experience into one that developers and payment companies can build upon, and that benefits the users.”
Additionally, as part of their Q1 2026 roadmap, Celo and Opera announce plans to deepen MiniPay’s role as a gateway to both traditional payment infrastructure and onchain utility.
The recently launched Tether Gold (XAUt0) integration for example, now sees nearly 30,000 users in its first weeks, moves beyond traditional stablecoins, now offering gold-backed, real-world assets (RWAs). The move comes as a direct response to user feedback, addressing the growing demand for assets that can provide a hedge against inflation and offer greater stability – a crucial feature for wealth preservation.
Furthermore, MiniPay users will soon be able to use stablecoin-backed cards and payments. Together, these integrations will position MiniPay on Celo as both a user-friendly front door for users and the connective tissue for partners who want to tap into stablecoin rails and onchain infrastructure.
To expand its developer and partner ecosystem beyond Africa, Celo and Opera MiniPay will host a joint Mini App Roadshow across new markets in Asia and South America in H1 2026 to encourage developers to build for MiniPay.
With this Roadshow, Celo and Opera MiniPay are bringing a physical presence to Asia, home to 32% of Web3 developers, and throughout Latin America, where cryptocurrency usage grew by 116% in 2024, and an additional 65% in H1 2025.
Download MiniPay on iOS or Google Play for instant, onchain stablecoin payments, access to the expansive Mini App ecosystem, and more.