OmiseGO (OMG): Crypto Exchange & Blockchain Payments Network?

With the stated aim of “Unbanking the Banked,” OmiseGO might have a strange name, but the company is rolling out a purist offer of cryptocurrency transactionality to the world.

Claiming that “OmiseGO enables financial inclusion and interoperability through the public, decentralized OMG network,” the project’s core, undiluted focus is on becoming a “next-generation financial network and decentralized economy.” Ambitious plans, but the company is finding a niche tying into the Ethereum network to hasten and improve user experience.

Essentially a scaling solution for Ethereum-based financial transactions, the platform enables real-time P2P transactions with greater speed and transparency. The OmiseGO decentralized network provides rapid, sovereign financial services across applications, geographies and asset classes.

Employing OmiseGO’s white-label SDK, developers can build apps that enable wallet-to-wallet conversions from crypto to fiat currencies, game credits, loyalty points and other currencies.

Billing itself as a “Digital Asset Gateway,” users can also employ OmiseGO to interact with various digital assets that are securely stored on the chain.

Employing Ethereum smart contracts and blockchain consensus, rapid and secure funds clearing is also possible on the network. Users can also entertain diverse crypto interests on the platform, as it enables a decentralized exchange mechanism providing cross-chain and multi-asset interoperability. Secured by Proof of Stake, the project is also confident in the value of the scalability built into the core design.

Benefits of The OmisGO Network

Wallet providers, employing the white-label SDK (software development kit), can access the public network to engage users who want to transact with any digital assets that include many crypto and most fiat currencies.

Essentially a fintech player, security on the platform is watertight, and tying into the Ethereum blockchain makes for safe custody and known validation. Scalability nearly floored Bitcoin in its earlier days and remains an issue with all cryptocurrencies, one that OmiseGO has anticipated and built for.

The Plasma architecture affords unlimited scalability that comes with really fast speeds:that can accommodate “millions, and potentially billions of transactions per second,” according to the developers. When one considers that Visa can handle around 55,000 transactions a second, OmiseGO is emblematic of a new breed of blockchain project that has emerged post the digital coin scalability issues of years past.

OMG is truly decentralized, not being privately owned by a central authority. Rather, it is controlled by the platform’s users and validators (stakers). When staking, token holders validate network transactions while also earning fees thus accrued.

The token value is tied into the network’s uptake, and is expected to grow alongside user statistics for OMG. Apps like wallets are able to interact seamlessly with each other on the OMG network. Users are able to trade diverse crypto assets on the platform, swapping for example Bitcoin for other altcoins or fiat currency, in spite of differing blockchain protocols for each coin.

Plasma Power

OMG has had the pioneering of Ethereum’s Layer 2 Plasma architecture scaling solution firmly in mind in building the platform. Noting that “the OMG network is a proof-of-stake and infinitely scalable Plasma blockchain with a decentralized exchange built into its core consensus layer,” the project’s developers have justifiably made much of their ability to move beyond scaling as an issue at all.

That said, scalability is only demonstrated on demand, yet from Ethereum’s own data as well as current usage data for OMG, it would appear that there can be no stalling on the platform. By adopting the Plasma construction, OMG has enabled a relatively low-cost experience of scalability, security and settlement in financial transactions among its users.

Further to their lengthy white paper, the company’s roadmap outlines the focus post the initial OMG token distribution. Thinking of an ecosystem in which OmiseGO becomes the go-to platform of the cryptosphere, the company is in the process of developing the wallet SDK and DEX, developments seen as vital for the utility of OMG network.

Incorporating Plasma, the OMG platform is a secure, high-speed and cheap option for developers and end-users alike. OMG has collaborated with a number of strategically chosen global investors including leaders of the fintech arena who are strategically positioned to enable global adoption of the OMG network.

The OmiseGO Team

The CEO and founder Jun Hasegawa is joined by a long list of developers and business managers on the team. The COO Donnie Harinsut is also a co-founder, and with CFO Luke Cheng and MD Vansa Chatikavanij, forms the company top tier.

A further 27 core team members and a dozen advisors complement the core team. Well-known Ethereum founder and crypto commentator Vitalik Buterin is also on the advisory panel, with a special focus on Plasma and overall security issues.

Final Thoughts On OMG Platform

The OMG platform sits squarely as an answer to many crypto users who want a diversified platform, and is emblematic of an emerging cryptosphere that sees altcoins enjoying transaction and scale relief in a hitherto unknown way. In many ways a logical upshot of the big scaling “Oops!” that faced many altcoins during 2016 and 2017, OMG is a new generation company focusing on user and tech issues, a far cry from the blunt realities digital currencies faced in past years.

Aiming at offering citizens a new way of effecting financial transactions – indeed “unbanking” the banked – while eliminating the stranglehold established banks have on everyone’s cash flow and indebtedness. Although there are many smart projects out there populating the cryptosphere, the participation of Buterin as well as the host of academic and business leaders on board OMG all points to a project destined to become a household name in coming years.