Celo Foundation has announced the successful launch of the Dango Layer-2 testnet that pave the way for Celo’s integration to Ethereum layer-2

Celo is a blockchain protocol designed with a mobile-first approach.

Celo is designed to be accessible on mobile devices, making it easier for people in developing regions to participate in the blockchain ecosystem.

Users can send and receive payments using just their phone numbers, without needing complex wallet addresses.

Celo has transitioned from a Layer-1 blockchain to a Layer-2 solution.

On July, 7, 2024, the Celo Foundation has announced the successful launch of the Dango Layer-2 testnet that pave the way for Celo’s integration to Ethereum layer-2.

This marks a significant milestone in cLabs’ efforts to integrate Celo’s blockchain with Ethereum.

The launch invites developers to start testing the updated code on this new fork of the Alfajores testnet.

The Dango testnet, first proposed during EthCC 2023, allows developers to transition their projects to this updated blockchain iteration designed for fast and low-cost global payments.

This launch preserves all historical data from the Alfajores testnet, including smart contracts, accounts, and balances.

Built on Optimism’s OP Stack, Dango maintains the benefits of Celo’s Layer 1 while leveraging a highly scalable and interoperable blockchain framework.

Following strategic support from the Eigen Foundation and community backing, Dango uses EigenDA as a data availability layer to keep transaction fees minimal.

The Layer-2 architecture aims to maintain low transaction costs and enhance throughput by 50%, decreasing block time from 5 seconds to 2 seconds.

Dango Layer-2 offers several key features, including the bridging of WETH and ERC-20 tokens for seamless transfers between Ethereum and Celo.

It supports CELO token duality, allowing interaction with CELO natively or via the ERC20 interface, and fee abstraction, which permits multiple ERC-20 tokens as gas currencies, including Celo-native $USDT and $USDC.

With the launch of Dango, infrastructure providers are now upgrading their Layer-2 node code.

Once all key providers have updated to support the new design, Alfajores will be upgraded without creating a new fork, allowing developers to test their end-user dApps without impacting user-facing applications.

The successful completion of this milestone ahead of the summer 2024 schedule sets the stage for the anticipated Celo Layer-2 mainnet launch in early winter 2024.

The Celo Foundation and cLabs remain committed to driving innovation and enhancing the blockchain ecosystem, ensuring a seamless transition and robust growth for developers and users alike.

Building on top of OP Stack, Celo will join Optimism Superchain.

The Optimism Superchain is a network of blockchains built using OP Stack blockchain development kit from Optimism that form inter-chain communication between blockchains that built from OP Stack.

These chains share a common technical and social fabric that ensures the individual chains communicate and function as one unit. This eliminates the need for bridging or network switching.

The Superchain is a network of L2 chains, known as OP Chains, which share security, a communication layer, and an open-source technology stack.

However, unlike multi-chain designs, these chains are standardized and intended to be used as interchangeable resources.

The launch of the Superchain would merge OP Mainnet and other chains into a single unified network of OP Chains (i.e., chains within the Superchain), marking a major step towards bringing scalable and decentralized compute to the world.

Some of OP Chains such as OP Mainnet, Base, Celo, Mode, and Worldcoin.