Celer Network

What is Celer Network (CELR)?

Celer Network is a blockchain interoperability protocol that aims to enable a one-click user experience accessing tokens, decentralized finance (DeFi), GameFi, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), governance, and more across multiple chains.

Using the Celer Inter-chain Message SDK, developers can build inter-chain native decentralized applications (dApps) to gain access to efficient liquidity utilization, coherent application logic, and shared states.

DApps that use Celer can grant their users the benefits of a diverse, multi-blockchain ecosystem but retain the simplicity of a single-transaction user experience all from a single chain.

Who are the Founders of Celer Network?

Celer Network was founded in 2018 by Dr. Mo Dong, Dr. Junda Liu, Dr. Xiaozhou Li, and Dr. Qingkai Liang. All four are respected engineers and hold PhDs in Computer Science from UIUC, Berkeley, Princeton, and MIT, respectively.

Dong is a specialist in applying algorithmic game theory to protocol design and was a founding engineer at Veriflow. Liu is a Google alumnus and a founding member of the Project Fi mobile service.

Li is a computer scientist of note with multiple publications, and his work has become core to products like Intel DPDK and Google TensorFlow. Finally, Liang is a researcher focused on problems that arise in networks, focusing on online learning algorithms in adversarial networks.

How Does Celer Network Work?

Celer Network uses smart contracts deployed on each blockchain paired with its own chain, the Celer State Guardian Network (SGN), to enable multi-chain interoperability.

To send a message or invoke a smart contract function cross-chain, a user or a dApp first sends their intention as a message with a structured header and arbitrary binary payload to a Message Bus smart contract on the source chain.

Then, the SGN needs to reach a consensus on the existence of such a message and generate a stake-weighed multi-signature attestation. This is relayed to the destination via an Executor subscribing to the message.

On the destination chain, the same Message Bus contract checks the validity of the message and triggers the corresponding logic associated with it immediately or after a prescribed timeout.

Inter-chain dApps built atop Celer, meanwhile, can choose two different security models with different trade-offs regarding the delay. By default, they rely on the SGN’s own security by processing messages immediately. Finally, SGN offers layer 1 blockchain security as a Tendermint proof-of-stake blockchain.

Inter-chain dApps can also maintain security using an Optimistic-style delay buffer. Instead of instantly processing a message routed by the SGN, an inter-chain dApp can inject a mandatory delay.

It can then run an independent watchtower service to double-validate the message on the source chain. If the watchtower service detects any inconsistency, it can prevent the message from being processed before the delay expires.

What makes Celer Network Unique?

Celer is a platform that offers a strong product portfolio atop the flexibility of the inter-chain message framework. The Celer cBridge, for instance, is a decentralized, non-custodial asset bridge that supports over 100 tokens across 30+ blockchains and layer 2 rollups.

The Celer cBridge has already processed over $8 billion in cross-chain asset transfer volume and served over 160,000 unique wallet addresses.

The cBridge SDK allows developers to quickly and easily integrate the Celer cBridge as part of their application workflow. It’s also possible to integrate it as a web widget to allow users to easily bridge assets without leaving the dApp.

The Celer inter-chain Message SDK takes things even further, empowering developers to create a whole range of inter-chain dApps. This could include DeFi protocols where it’s possible to have funds on one chain collateralizing borrowing on another, but it can very well extend to multi-chain metaverses and chain-agnostic DAO governance.

How is the Celer Network Network Secured?

The Celer Network’s SGN is a Tendermint proof-of-stake blockchain, which means it is Byzantine Fault Tolerant and secured by validators bonding CELR tokens to the protocol. In exchange, they are rewarded with more CELR tokens when they produce and validate blocks.

However, slashing also applies. If a validator is compromised or behaves maliciously, they may have some or all of their staked CELR tokens confiscated.

What is the Use of CELR?

The CELR token is the Celer Network’s main utility token and serves as a staking token on the SGN chain to ensure its security. Users also have to pay a fee in CELR to use the SGN’s message routing service and store the multi-signature attestation.

Similar to fees paid on any other PoS blockchain’s validators, these fees are distributed to CELR validating nodes and their delegators. This is on top of the block rewards that validators are given for block production.

To gain a share of the fees that validators earn, you can stake your CELR tokens and delegate them to a validator of your choice.

How Much CELR is In Circulation?

CELR has a maximum supply of 10 billion, with over 7 billion tokens already in circulation. CELR tokens are available on Ethereum in addition to the SGN.

One-fifth of the entire token supply went to the Celer team and advisors, while 17% went to the foundation. 33% was used for fundraising, with the remainder shared between ecosystem funds and project marketing.

How Do You Buy CELR?

You can buy ERC-20 CELR tokens on Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges. It’s also possible to buy CELR on a wide range of centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, including some of the industry leaders.

How Do You Store CELR?

You can store CELR using common Ethereum-compatible wallets like Metamask. Celer’s documentation features a guide on how to stake your CELR using Metamask.

Is CELR a Good Investment?

Blockchain interoperability is a powerful vision, and many of the industry’s most exciting projects are driving toward making this a reality. Celer is one of these, giving users the simplest possible experience while providing developers with powerful tooling to make it happen behind the scenes.

For real mass adoption of Web3 and blockchain technologies to happen, projects like Celer could certainly play a leading role in making end users’ transition from Web2 to Web3 as seamless as possible.