OmiseGo: what is it?

OmiseGo’s blockchain and the OMG cryptocurrency have aroused users’ interest for its technical features and not only that.

Who’s behind OmiseGo?

OmiseGo was co-founded by Jun Hasegawa and Donnie Harinsut as an e-commerce company back in 2013, registered as LLC in Singapore, while their main offices are located in Tokyo and Bangkok. 

The project has seen the support of major crypto players such as Vitalik Buterin, Joseph Poon, Gavin Wood, Vlad Zamfir and Roger Ver.

OmiseGo conducted an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) in 2017 and managed to raise about $25 million.

What consensus protocol does it use?

OmiseGo uses the DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) consensus protocol, similar to what can be found on other blockchains like EOS. 

The blockchain is built similarly to the Ethereum blockchain and aims to facilitate the decentralization of payments and e-wallets by providing all the necessary structure, as for example do Alipay and Venmo.

Validators need to stake their OMG tokens to validate transactions as a node and also earn from transaction fees, similar to what happens on the Bitcoin blockchain.

If nodes operate maliciously or against the network itself, the OmiseGo team has devised a slashing system that burns OMG tokens staked by the malicious validator.

What is OmiseGo for?

OmiseGo is an infrastructure that allows the consumer to exchange digital money directly with the retailer and thus have a direct relationship without the need for intermediaries.

This is done using the OmiseGo network and the OMG token, which in this case is used to establish consensus between nodes to secure the network and also to access the payment system and exchange services.

Among the main functions of OmiseGo there are:

• A decentralized exchange network, designed to scale by securing the blockchain and allowing any asset to be exchanged. 
• Transactions are managed directly onchain from nodes with a dynamic fee system in order to be interoperable with Ethereum;
• A trading engine, which allows users to set their own orders that are managed according to blocks: an order is completed only when there are sufficient confirmations and this makes the system similar to that of a non-custodial DEX;
• A cash-out system: with the SDK of the digital wallet software it is possible to liquidate assets through ATM withdrawals or using OTC (Over The Counter) solutions.

How active is this blockchain?

The project is currently being tested and other protocols such as the Plasma architecture and functions such as MapReduce have yet to be integrated, although further updates are planned in the future for the mainnet launch.

How much is the OMG token worth?

The OMG token, which is an ERC20, is currently trading at $1.72 and is located at position 37 of CoinMarketCap, with a capitalization of over $240 million.

The token was recently listed on Coinbase and Coinbase Pro.