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Life troublesome but anyways

While most people are still trying to understand what blockchain is, Bette Chen has already rolled up her sleeves and helped build it from the inside. Rather than just being a spectator, this University of Auckland graduate chose an unusual path. Who would have thought that her interest in reading the Bitcoin whitepaper would be the turning point that changed the entire direction of her life. Initially, Bette was just an ordinary software engineer. She worked at a technology company, went through a routine, and had a fairly stable future. But on the other hand, her curiosity about the world of decentralized finance grew. She then made the decision to pursue an MBA, going all the way to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. This combination of technical logic and business instincts is what later became a strong foundation when she entered the crypto industry. After her MBA, Bette did not immediately build an empire. She started from the bottom again, this time focusing on products that bridge technology and finance. Together with her team, she founded Laminar—a platform for synthetic assets and margin trading. In 2019, Bette and her colleagues from Laminar and Polkawallet decided to form Acala Network. Their vision was simple but ambitious: to create a cross-chain DeFi hub on the Polkadot network. In simple terms, think of Acala as a ‘digital bank’ in the crypto world that can be accessed across networks, complete with stablecoins , staking, and a DEX. It didn’t take long for Acala to steal the show. In November 2021, they won the first parachain slot on Polkadot via a crowdloan with 32 million DOT backing. If converted, it was worth more than $1.3 billion at that time. That’s an incredible amount, and it’s clear evidence of the community’s trust in Bette and her team’s vision. However, no journey is completely smooth. In August 2022, Acala faced a major crisis. A misconfiguration in the liquidity pool caused 3 billion aUSD to be minted that shouldn’t have existed. Rather than avoiding or blaming the team, Bette took an active role in solving the problem. She led the community to track down and burn the misminted tokens, and restore stability to the network. It’s not just about technicalities, it’s about trust. And more importantly, it’s about leadership. In a crypto industry often filled with false promises and fickle projects, Bette’s approach feels refreshing—transparent, responsive, and drama-free. Furthermore, Bette doesn’t merely write code in the background. She also actively speaks on forums, podcasts, and social media. On the X platform, she often shares her views on the future of DeFi , interoperability, and the challenges of building a cross-chain ecosystem. Sometimes serious, sometimes lighthearted—but always down-to-earth. What sets Bette apart from most crypto founders is perhaps her rare combination of technical expertise, deep understanding of the market, and a strong human instinct. She doesn’t speak in confusing jargon, but she talks about solutions, opportunities, and responsibilities.

Finally, the Celo network has truly transformed. From a Layer 1 blockchain that has stood alone, it has now officially joined the Ethereum Layer 2 space. The migration process was quite complex, even causing block production on the Celo main network to be temporarily halted. But now, everything is back up and running. Celo now operates as an Ethereum Layer 2 with block times cut from five seconds to just one second. For those who are used to waiting for transaction confirmations, like waiting for a train that never comes, this is good news. 🏡 @Ethereum , we're home! Following a successful "hard hard fork" led by core contributors at @cLabs & L1 validators, Celo is officially an Ethereum Layer 2 🪨 🪨 🍴 What does that mean for the diverse, global decentralized ecosystem? Keep reading to find out ↓ pic.twitter.com/slW1W5oRmP — Celo.eth 🦇 🌳 (@Celo) March 26, 2025 This change also brings a feature that previously felt half-baked: cross-network interoperability. Celo now supports direct bridging with Ethereum natively. This means that the flow of assets and data between the two networks is smoother without having to cross a complicated or expensive bridge. Imagine being able to move your wallet from one network to another, like moving your wallet from your left pocket to your right pocket. Furthermore, this migration was not done just for the sake of moving. Celo also partnered with Alchemy, a platform known for its robust infrastructure for developers. The goal is clear: to help developers build more reliable and connected applications. The collaboration is a new foundation, as many developers in the Ethereum ecosystem are already familiar with Alchemy’s features. Now, with all these updates, Celo seems ready to go even faster. The network is no longer a small stand-alone player, but rather part of the much broader Ethereum ecosystem. However, their approach remains down-to-earth: cheap, fast, and accessible. Transaction fees on the new network can even be as low as $0.0005, so cheap it feels like nothing. This could be a big draw, especially for users in cost-sensitive developing countries. Looking back, Celo has introduced the Celo Citizen Retro program, which was announced in December 2024. This program provides funding of 250,000 CELO for projects that have made significant contributions to building the ecosystem and making crypto more grounded in everyday life. Applications opened on December 20, 2024, and the response was quite warm. Still in December, CNF reported another interesting integration: Band Protocol entered Celo Alfajores, Celo’s Layer 2 testnet, to supply real-time price data. This is great news for DeFi, GameFi, or perhaps NFT applications needing precise data. The prices shown are not only estimates or based on data a few minutes old. Band Protocol offers access to more safe cross-chain feeds including real-time ones. Meanwhile, as of the writing time, CELO is trading at about $0.3986, up 1.68% over the last 24 hours. It is driving its market cap to surpass the $225 million mark.

Whatever stage of life you are in now, always keep yourself on God's side.