Celo Network Launches EY’s Nightfall Layer 3 for Private Enterprise Payments
The Celo Foundation announced the launch of Nightfall, an open-source, zero-knowledge privacy layer application developed by EY, as a Layer 3 on the Celo network, marking its first payments-focused blockchain integration. This development aims to enable private, enterprise-grade transactions, positioning Celo for B2B payments in a sector with significant cross-border flows.
Celo, which records over 500,000 daily active users and more than $2 billion in monthly stablecoin volume across 150 countries, is positioned to support global payment solutions for both consumers and enterprises, particularly in emerging regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The integration of Nightfall targets the enterprise B2B payments sector, which is projected to exceed $180 trillion in cross-border flows.
Rene Reinsberg, Celo Co-Founder and Celo Foundation President, stated, “Deploying Nightfall on Celo brings enterprise-grade privacy to the same mobile-first infrastructure that already supports millions of users globally.” He added that with this Layer 3, Celo now provides a comprehensive solution for individual and institutional payment needs in markets underserved by traditional financial infrastructure.
Nightfall has been under development in the public domain since 2017. The latest version, Nightfall_4 (NF_4), utilizes Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) technology to facilitate the private transfer of various token standards, including ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, and ERC-3525. It employs a ZK-ZK rollup to create compact and efficient blocks, which helps maintain privacy while ensuring scalability. This architecture also reduces blockchain transaction costs to approximately one-tenth of conventional transfers and removes the need for intermediaries.
By integrating Nightfall, Celo aims to bridge the gap between enterprise confidentiality and public blockchain infrastructure, providing an auditable yet private platform suitable for B2B payments, supply chain finance, and other high-value applications. Celo’s mobile-first design, phone number-based addressing, and sub-cent fees make it suitable for emerging markets and enterprise requirements for both privacy and accessibility. Evidence of the network’s scalability and utility includes MiniPay, Opera’s stablecoin wallet built on Celo, which has surpassed 10 million activated wallets and processed over 270 million transactions.
Enterprises leveraging Celo can now conduct private B2B transactions using stablecoins like native USDT and USDC, with support for gas fee abstraction using ERC-20 tokens. This integration further reinforces Celo’s position as an Ethereum Layer-2 network focused on inclusive, global finance. Nightfall on Celo is currently live on testnet, with technical documentation and developer resources available for development teams.
