Celo
Celo doesn't have native staking. Liquid staking and DeFi alternatives further down still let you earn yield.
Celo uses Proof-of-Work — there is nothing to stake natively. See DeFi alternatives below.
CELO price · USD
Chart appears once we have a few days of data.
Market cap
$51.7Million
Circulating
601Million CELO
Rollup maturity & risk
How Celo stacks up as a rollup
Stage 0 OptimiumAggregated rollup-maturity rating + 5-axis risk rosette. Stage 2 is fully decentralised; Stage 1 has guardian intervention windows; Stage 0 still has admin keys. Sentiment colours come straight from the source.
Sequencer Failure
Self sequence
In the event of a sequencer failure, users can force transactions to be included in the project's chain by sending them to L1. There can be up to a 12h delay on this operation.
State Validation
Fraud proofs (1R, ZK)
Fraud proofs allow actors watching the chain to prove that the state is incorrect. Single round proofs (1R) only require a single transaction to resolve. ZK proofs are used to prove the correctness of the state transition. The system currently operates with at least 5 whitelisted challengers external to the team.
Data Availability
External
Proof construction and state derivation fully rely on data that is posted on EigenDA. The sequencer is publishing data to EigenDA v2. Sequencer transaction data roots are checked against the DACert Verifier data roots, signed off by EigenDA operators.
Exit Window
None
There is no exit window for users to exit in case of unwanted upgrades as they are initiated by the Security Council with instant upgrade power and without proper notice.
Proposer Failure
Cannot withdraw
Only the whitelisted proposers can publish state roots on L1, so in the event of failure the withdrawals are frozen.
Value secured
$252Million
7-day change
-4.2%
Editor's picks · ranked by reward after fees
Where to stake your CELO
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01
CE
Celo Wallet Top pick
4.0% after fees
Reward
4.0%
→Fee
0.0%
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02
BI
Binance Staking
3.5% after fees
Reward
3.5%
→Fee
20.0%
Earn yield · DeFi options
How to earn yield on CELO
Since Celo doesn't have native staking, the way to earn on CELO is through DeFi pools — either by lending it, providing liquidity, or wrapping it onto a chain that does support staking. DeFi adds smart-contract and (for LP) impermanent-loss risk.
36 pools
Apps on this chain · ranked by value held
What's running on Celo
Each protocol is a separate app. Lenders let you earn interest on what you deposit; DEXes let people swap tokens; liquid-staking apps give you a tradeable receipt for your staked coin. Tap any to see how to use it.
9 apps tracked
| App | Category | Chains | Best reward rate | Value held on Celo ↓ | Yield options | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA Aave V3 aave-v3 | Lending | 15 | — | $4.79Million | — | → |
| UN Uniswap V3 uniswap-v3 | DEX & liquidity | 15 | — | $4.4Million | — | → |
| ME Mento V2 mento-v2 | Stablecoin issuer | 3 | — | $4.13Million | — | → |
| TH TheDeep thedeep | Liquidity manager | 3 | — | $2.54Million | — | → |
| IC Ichi ichi | DEX & liquidity | 4 | — | $2.41Million | — | → |
| ST stCELO stcelo | Liquid staking | 1 | — | $1.3Million | — | → |
| MO Moola Market moola-market | Lending | 1 | — | $1.07Million | — | → |
| CA Carbon Defi carbon-defi | Dexs | 2 | — | $1.01Million | — | → |
| MO Morpho Blue morpho-blue | Lending | 19 | — | $1Million | — | → |
Read up before you stake
Background reading on Celo staking
Guide
What is staking?
The plain-English version: how locking your tokens earns you new tokens, and why the network pays you to do it.
Read the guide →
Guide
How blockchains differ from each other
Why Solana, Ethereum, and Cosmos chains pay different rates and why their security models differ.
Read the guide →
Guide
What does a validator actually do?
Validators run the chain. Pick a healthy one and your rewards arrive on schedule; pick a bad one and you can lose part of your stake.
Read the guide →
Frequently asked
What people ask about Celo staking
What does staking CELO on Celo mean?
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Staking on Celo means locking your CELO with a validator that helps run the network. In return, the network pays you a share of newly created tokens — similar to how a savings account pays interest, but the rate is set by the protocol, not a bank.
How much can I earn?
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Right now the top validators on Celo pay around 4.0% per year, after their commission. The rate moves with the chain's inflation schedule and how much of the supply is staked overall.
Is staking safe?
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Your tokens stay in your wallet — you never hand them over. The two real risks are slashing (the network can shrink your balance if your validator misbehaves, which is rare) and lock-up (you can't sell instantly during the unbonding period). Pick a validator with a track record and you sidestep most of the risk.
Can I unstake whenever I want?
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Yes, but unstaking is not instant. Most chains have an unbonding period of a few days to a few weeks during which you don't earn rewards and can't sell. Liquid-staking tokens (like stETH for Ethereum) sidestep this by giving you a tradeable receipt token.
What wallet do I need?
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Any non-custodial wallet that supports Celo works — Phantom or Solflare for Solana, Keplr for Cosmos chains, MetaMask for Ethereum and EVM chains, Yoroi or Eternl for Cardano. Connect, choose a validator, click delegate. The whole flow takes a couple of minutes.
See also
Terms used on this page
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Validator
A computer that processes transactions and votes on the blockchain's state. In return for keeping the network honest it collects fees and staking rewards.
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Slashing
An automatic penalty where part of a validator's stake is destroyed for misbehaviour or extended downtime. Real risk for delegators too.
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Unbonding Period
The waiting time after you unstake before tokens become liquid again. Ranges from minutes (Ethereum LSTs) to 21+ days (Cosmos chains).
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Validator Commission
The fee a validator takes from staking rewards before passing the rest to delegators. Often 5–15%; lower means more of the reward reaches you.
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Real Yield
Yield paid in revenue-bearing assets (ETH, USDC, fees) rather than newly minted protocol tokens. The non-inflationary part of the rate.