Summary: Mento is a decentralized, multi-currency stable asset protocol designed to bring global fiat currencies into the blockchain ecosystem, providing transparent, secure, and accessible stablecoins and cross-border settlement infrastructure. Through distributed asset reserves, permissionless governance, and virtual automated market makers (vAMMs), Mento supports over 15 local and global stablecoins, playing a role in global DeFi, payments, and remittance scenarios.
Key Points:
- Mechanism Principles: Based on a hybrid stability model (over-collateralized + algorithmic adjustment), maintaining currency value stability through automatic minting/redemption.
- Multi-Currency Support: Currently supports 15+ local and global stablecoins (such as cUSD, cEUR, cKES, cCOP, etc.).
- Core Product: Mento Asset Exchange (vAMM), providing real-time FX trading, low slippage, high security, and 24/7 market access.
- Governance Token MENTO: To be launched in 2025, users can earn through MiniPay trading and gain governance and voting rights.
- Application Scenarios: Cross-border payments, local currency lending and yield,DeFi access, without dependence on the US dollar.
1. What is Mento?
Mento is a multi-currency stable asset protocol built on the Celo chain that allows users to create and redeem stablecoins without a central custodial authority. It employs a hybrid stability model: linking stablecoins to fiat currency exchange rates through over-collateralization, diversified asset reserves, and automated market mechanisms. The protocol supports minting and redemption operations, enabling users to maintain currency stability through arbitrage opportunities. Additionally, the system incorporates built-in circuit breakers, trading limits, oracle security, and other mechanisms to enhance stability and security.
Current mainstream stablecoins (such as USDT、USDC) are all pegged to the US dollar, resulting in a high dependence of the global digital payment system on the dollar, which restricts the use of local currencies in the digital age and the independence of sovereign finance. Developing countries particularly lack stable assets that are pegged to local fiat currencies. Mento is committed to breaking this limitation by providing local stablecoin solutions for different countries and communities around the world, enabling users to settle, pay, and store value in their local currency.
2. Mento’s Protocol Design and Functional Composition
2.1 Overview of Mento’s Core Modules
The Mento protocol includes the following core components:
- Stablecoin Synthesis Module (Stable Assets): Allows users to mint stablecoins pegged to any local fiat currency (such as cEUR, cREAL, etc.) through collateralization;
- Virtual Automated Market Maker (vAMM): Supports automatic exchanges between stablecoins and cross-currency trading, maintaining pegged price stability;
- Reserve Pool: Supports the value of stablecoins through over-collateralized reserve assets;
- Price Oracle System (Oracle): Feeds prices in real-time from off-chain exchange rate sources;
- Governance Mechanism (Mento DAO): Participates in protocol decision-making and changes through token locking;
- Predicate Strategy Layer: Can impose geographical restrictions and conditions on different stablecoins.KYC 要求等条件。
2.2 Mento Core Mechanism: Stablecoin Minting and Price Pegging
2.2.1 Minting and Redemption Mechanism
Users can mint cXXX stablecoins pegged to specified local currencies by collateralizing cUSD, USDC, or other reserve assets to the protocol. For example:
- Minting cREAL (pegged to the Brazilian Real) by collateralizing cUSD.
- The minting process follows a pricing formula, with the oracle controlling the exchange rate input.
2.2.2 Stability Mechanism
Mento combines the following three means to maintain the price stability of pegged assets:
- Arbitrage Mechanism: When the stablecoin price deviates from the pegged value, arbitrageurs buy/sell to return to the peg.
- vAMM Curve Adjustment: Optimizes stablecoin exchange slippage by combining Constant Product and Constant Sum curves.
- Oracle Exchange Rate Feeding + Reset Mechanism: The protocol can periodically force reset the vAMM price to the off-chain real exchange rate.
3. Mento’s Governance Structure and Participation Mechanism
3.1 Mento DAO
Mento DAO is the core organizational entity of protocol governance, which has:
- The authority to adjust protocol parameters (such as exchange rates, reserve allocations, vAMM parameters)
- Voting rights for proposing new stablecoins (such as adding new pegged currencies)
- Community funds usage rights (for ecological grants, airdrops, reserve replenishments, etc.)
3.2 veMENTO model
Governance rights are based on veMENTO (Voting Escrow MENTO):
- Users can lock MENTO for up to two years in exchange for veMENTO voting rights
- The longer the lock-up period, the higher the voting weight
- veMENTO can participate in voting, initiate proposals, or delegate voting to others
- veMENTO is closely linked with airdrops and guild incentives, enhancing community participation
4. Mento’s token economic model
MENTO is the native governance token of the Mento protocol, compliant with ERC-20 standard, deployed on the Celo blockchain. Its core functionalities include participating in protocol governance, ecosystem incentives, serving as a risk buffer reserve, and for the allocation of protocol reserve assets.
| Project | Content |
| Token name | MENTO |
| Total supply | 1,000,000,000 |
| Contract standard | ERC-20 (deployed on the Celo chain) |
| Governance model | veMENTO (locked voting model) |
| Token functions | Governance voting, ecological incentives, risk buffering, reserve allocation |
The initial supply of MENTO is 1 billion, and its distribution strategy aims to balance protocol development, community incentives, ecosystem collaboration, and risk response. The distribution details are as follows:
| Type | Proportion | Quantity (MENTO) | Description |
| Community treasury | 45% | 450,000,000 | Does not participate in governance and is used only for grants and subsidies |
| Team, investors, etc. | 30% | 300,000,000 | A portion converted to veMENTO after lock-up, with governance rights |
| Liquidity incentives | 10% | 100,000,000 | DEX incentives, etc. (no governance rights) |
| Community airdrop | 5% | 50,000,000 | Airdrop veMENTO with governance rights |
| Celo community treasury | 5% | 50,000,000 | Promote the collaborative ecosystem construction of Celo-Mento |
| Reserve security fund | 5% | 50,000,000 | To cope with extreme market risks, inactive circulation |
5. Main application scenarios of Mento
5.1 Cross-border payments
Mento provides users and businesses with low-fee, instant settlement, and intermediary-free cross-border payment channels. Users can directly pay or remit to overseas markets using local stablecoins (such as cCOP, cKES).
5.2 Local currency earnings and DeFi access
Users can hold local stablecoins to participate in Aave,Uniswap and other DeFi platforms to earn benefits. Avoiding the use of USD stablecoins helps local community fund circulation and earnings accumulation.
5.3 Trading and liquidity management
With real-time exchange rate quoting and liquidity pools, users and institutions can hedge, manage funds, and perform cross-currency exchanges without relying on traditional financial systems.
6. Conclusion
The Mento protocol is at the forefront of the global paradigm shift in the stablecoin system: it not only challenges the dollar-dominated stablecoin landscape, but also provides a new technological pathway for the diversification of global financial infrastructure with its modular architecture and localized anchoring mechanism. By supporting the digital mapping of multiple national fiat currencies, Mento is expected to help emerging markets achieve a higher degree of financial autonomy and the widespread adoption of digital payments.
In the future, the success of Mento will depend on its ability to achieve continuous breakthroughs in regulation, reserve management, oracle security, and governance participation levels. As stablecoins evolve from “single dollar pegs” to “collaborative multiple local currencies,” the decentralized stablecoin issuance engine provided by Mento may become an important fulcrum for promoting the inclusiveness of the global digital economy.
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