What Is Celia Finance: A Web3 Ecosystem

Core Positioning and Background of Transformation

Celia Finance is a next-generation Web3 ecosystem headquartered in the UK, initially positioned as Africa’s first digital asset platform targeting Web3 users. The project offers a free mining feature via a mobile app, where users can earn the native token CELIA simply by staying online. It also uses a buyback-and-burn mechanism to control inflation. In Q2 2024, it launched the CELIA airdrop with a total supply of 200 million tokens, 72.5% allocated to mining.

However, due to community concerns over CELIA’s price volatility, Celia announced a strategic shift in May 2025, launching the Celia Circle plan, replacing CELIA airdrops with USDT rewards while retaining CELIA’s governance functions. This adjustment aims to enhance user fund security and reduce market sell-off risks.

This market insights article discusses Celia Finance’s strategic adjustment from native token CELIA to USDT airdrops, analyzing its technical architecture, tokenomics, and potential risks.

Technical Architecture and Regulatory Progress

Celia Finance’s technical system is designed to lower the entry barrier for users in emerging markets. Its app supports no-code mining—users just need to stay online to earn rewards, restricted to one device, one account, and one network to prevent abuse. A gamified task system allows users to increase earnings through social media interactions (e.g., retweeting). On the security side, the platform faced controversy due to a self-signed SSL certificate (deemed untrusted in a March 2025 scan), later upgraded to a certificate issued by an authoritative body to rebuild trust.

In terms of compliance, Celia Finance mandates two-step KYC verification to meet regulatory requirements in Africa and the EU, and proactively excludes users from high-risk jurisdictions such as the U.S. In 2025, it reached a pre-approval agreement with the Nigerian SEC, planning to apply for a regional exchange license and partnered with Chainlink to integrate oracles for price transparency.

Tokenomics and Market Dynamics

The CELIA token adopts a deflationary model, with 25% of quarterly revenue used for buyback and burn, aiming to reduce the circulating supply from 200 million to 100 million tokens. However, the official $100 target price is questioned by the market, with a rational ceiling estimate of $10. After the strategic shift in May 2025, USDT became the primary airdrop reward. Users can stake CELIA to increase their USDT allocation weight, while retaining CELIA’s fee discounts (up to 30%) and governance voting rights (e.g., token listing proposals).

Market data shows CELIA’s liquidity heavily relies on mining incentives, raising short-term sell-off risks after the transformation. Moreover, the cost of USDT airdrops depends on transaction fee income from the exchange. The current average daily trading volume has not been disclosed, and the sustainability of the business model remains to be verified.

Potential Risks and Ecosystem Challenges

Although the strategic transition has reduced user concerns about price volatility, Celia Finance still faces multiple risks:

• Regulatory Uncertainty: Policies across African countries are unstable (e.g., Kenya proposes banning non-central bank stablecoins), which may put USDT airdrops under legal scrutiny.

• Intensifying Market Competition: Local exchange Yellow Card holds a 35% market share in West Africa. Celia needs to differentiate with unique features such as cross-chain bridges.

• Technical Vulnerabilities: Past SSL certificate issues impact institutional capital inflows, requiring continued investment in security audits.

Users can refer to the JuCoin staking guide to manage CELIA staking risks, such as setting stop-loss limits and diversifying positions.

Outlook: Stablecoin-Driven Strategy for Emerging Markets

Celia Finance’s future strategy focuses on the French-speaking regions of Africa (Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire) and regulatory expansion:

• Product Upgrades: In Q3 2025, it will launch BTC and ETH staking features, as well as futures and leveraged trading.

• Payment Integration: In collaboration with RedotPay, it is developing a crypto debit card to support CELIA for offline payments and USDT fiat conversion.

• AI Risk Control Module: A machine learning model will be introduced to detect abnormal trading behavior and reduce market manipulation risks.

If Celia Finance Circle’s model of “stablecoin rewards + governance token” succeeds, it could drive a shift among emerging market exchanges from token-driven growth to practical utility. However, success depends on balancing technical innovation, regulatory compliance, and user growth. When stablecoins become the foundation of trust, financial inclusion can truly be realized.