ZARm, issued by the Mento Protocol smart contracts under the governance of its tokenholders, is an algorithmic stablecoin that references the South African Rand (ZAR) and maintains its value through an onchain digital-asset reserve.

The holder receives a token referencing the South African Rand (ZAR), the value of which is stabilized algorithmically against that reference currency. Stabilization draws on the Mento Reserve, an onchain portfolio comprising Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Celo (CELO), Dai (DAI), USD Coin (USDC), the carbon credit token cMCO2, and other digital assets that collateralize the stablecoin and support its peg to the reference currency.

ZARm is not issued by a single corporate entity; it is issued by the Mento Protocol smart contracts and administered through the governance of its tokenholders rather than a centralized administrator. The product record identifies Mento Labs as the originating team and the Mento Reserve as the collateral pool that backs the stablecoin algorithmically. Stabilization, collateralization, and the management of the reserve are effected by the protocol itself, with tokenholder governance directing parameters of the system that maintains the reference to the South African Rand (ZAR).

ZARm is an algorithmic stablecoin issued onchain on supported public networks, with stabilization effected by protocol smart contracts that reference the Mento Reserve. The reserve holds Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Celo (CELO), Dai (DAI), USD Coin (USDC), cMCO2, and other digital assets to collateralize the token and maintain its reference to the South African Rand (ZAR).

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Stablecoins

Mento maintains the exchange mechanism on Celo that issues local-currency stablecoins (cUSD, cEUR, cBRL, cKES) backed by a diversified on-chain reserve, earning revenue through trading spreads on minting and redemption.

Mento Labs builds multi-currency stablecoin infrastructure for the Celo ecosystem, issuing cUSD, cEUR, cREAL, and cKES with a decentralized FX trading platform.

Mento Labs is a team of economists and engineers spun out of the core Celo development team, led by CEO Markus Franke.

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Stablecoin issuers

Mento Labs

Mento South African Rand (ZARm) is a South African Rand stablecoin issued by Mento Labs.

Holders can mint and redeem directly with Mento Labs.

ZARm has been issued on Celo as an ERC-20 token since April 2025.

Mento South African RandZARm

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