What is Celer Network?

Celer Network (CELR) is a blockchain interoperability protocol that strives to simplify user experience by enabling one-click access to tokens, DeFi, GameFi, NFTs, governance, and more across multiple chains. It allows developers to build inter-chain-native dApps using the Celer Inter-chain Messaging Framework, which provides efficient liquidity utilization, coherent application logic, and shared states. Users of Celer-enabled dApps can enjoy the benefits of a diverse multi-blockchain ecosystem with the simplicity of a single-transaction user experience, all from a single chain. The CELR token, an ERC-20 standard token built upon the Ethereum blockchain, is used to manage the network economy and has several uses, including staking in the State Guardian Network (SGN) and participating in network governance.

How does Celer Network work?

Celer Network operates through smart contracts deployed on each chain paired with the State Guardian Network (SGN), a Tendermint-based blockchain, to enable seamless multi-blockchain interoperability. To send a message or invoke a smart contract function cross-chain, a user or a dApp sends their intention as a message with a structured header and arbitrary binary payload to a Message Bus smart contract on the source chain. The validator, the SGN, then reaches a consensus on the existence of such a message and concurrently generates a stake-weighed multi-signature attestation. This attestation is relayed to the destination via an Executor subscribing to the message. On the destination chain, the same Message Bus contract exists to check the validity of the message and triggers the corresponding logic associated with the message either immediately or after a timeout.

What are the potential use cases for Celer Network?

Celer Network seeks to provide a platform for the development of inter-chain-native dApps with efficient liquidity utilization, coherent application logic, and shared states. Some potential use cases include decentralized exchanges that allow users to swap tokens across multiple chains from just one chain and with only a single transaction. It can also be used for lending protocols where collateral can be provided on one chain in order to borrow assets on a different chain, and NFT marketplaces where a user from one chain can place bids on an auction taking place on a completely different chain. Other potential use cases include DAO governance protocols that allow unified governance mechanisms without requiring governance tokens to be moved across different chains, and metaverse games where users can interact seamlessly in the game with virtual items from various chains.

What is the history of Celer Network?

Celer Network was established in 2018 by a team of engineers. All four co-founders of Celer hold PhDs in Computer Science from universities like MIT and UC Berkeley, and all have experience working in the tech industry. The co-founders include Dr. Mo Dong, an expert in applying algorithmic game theory to protocol design, Dr. Junda Liu, who joined Google in 2011 to build its datacenter networking infrastructure, Dr. Xiaozhou Li, whose works have been published at premier venues in distributed systems, networking, storage, and data management, and Dr. Qingkai Liang, whose research focuses on various learning and control problems that arise in networked systems. Celer Network has undergone smart contract audits and has a bug bounty program to encourage community and whitehat efforts in securing and improving the network.