OmiseGO | Decentralized, Blockchain-Based Financial Services
OmiseGO Launched By Record-Breaking ICO
OmiseGO (OMG) is a popular cryptocurrency platform, which was developed by Jun Hasegawa and Donnie Harinsut and released in 2017 via an ICO that raised over $25 million. The ICO was so hot that over $100 million in investment was turned down. As of this writing, each coin is worth $14+, and with more than 102 million coins in circulation, this yields a market cap of $1.5 billion (CoinMarketCap).
This effectively makes OmiseGO the 22nd largest cryptocurrency platform by market cap. Considering there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies, this indicates that its one of the most prominent and widely used cryptos in existence. Its platform directly integrates and runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum's ETH is the most valuable and popular cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (BTC), so there is a tremendous amount of mining power running and securing its blockchain.
Decentralized Financial Services
Thus, OMG is considered to be fairly secure. Its network pioneers Plasma architecture, which is an Ethereum layer-2 scalability solution. The coin’s blockchain uses Proof-of Stake (PoS), meaning you can earn coins via staking. To stake, all you have to do is hold coins in your wallet, and keep your wallet open on your computer. If you do this, your computer will help validate transactions, and as a reward, you will periodically receive some fresh coins. The more coins you hold in your wallet, the faster you earn coins.
There is an exchange built into OmiseGO’s core consensus layer in order to provide financial services, and since the underlying technology is blockchain-based, this exchange and all of its associated financial services are completely decentralized. The OmiseGO motto is “Unbank the banked”, meaning it intends to provide a better platform than banks for financial transactions. Specifically, users on the network can trade digital assets, fiat currency, and cryptocurrency.
Clearinghouse Technology For Business Contracts
There is also clearinghouse technology integrated into the network, which provides a framework for creating business contracts among different parties. This decentralized clearinghouse is the first of its kind, since up till now, financial clearinghouses have been centralized. Therefore, any business dealings within them can be manipulated, censored, and changed by those in charge.
Also, transferring money via a decentralized network like OMG is considered by its creators to be faster and safer than using a centralized platform like the modern-day banking system. Banks can freeze transactions and hold money at will, which can disrupt business and adversely affect your financial health. Even if everything is approved, it often takes days or even weeks for a transaction to be completed. The decentralized OMG network could give you peace of mind in your business dealings, since it's not possible for your money to be frozen mid-transaction, and transactions are completed nearly instantly.
Numerous Strategic Partnerships
The plasma architecture allows for millions, if not billions of transactions per second, which is many orders of magnitude more transactions per second than what is possible on the Bitcoin network (~10 transactions per second).
The creators of OMG are working with several major financial and technology companies, including SBI investment, SMDV, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Golden Gate Ventures, Ascend Capital, East Ventures, Krungsri Finnovate (a bank based in Hong Kong), and 500 startups in order to drive adoption of the platform globally. As use of its decentralized financial services increases, so will the value of the coin. In July 2017, the coin had a value near $0.50, and its price rose to a peak of $26 in mid-January 2018, a spectacular 5000+% increase.
Price Volatility
Clearly, those who purchased and staked the coin early made lots of money. There has been quite a bit of volatility in the price of this crypto. After hitting its peak value in mid-January, it dropped all the way to $9 in early February, before rising again to $21 at the end of February. This is indicative of speculator driven “pump and dumps”, which is a common phenomenon on cryptocurrency markets.
In the long-term, I expect OMG to rise significantly in value since the technology used on its platform is cutting-edge, and will provide a backbone to many businesses and organizations looking to decentralize and accelerate their monetary transactions. In this world of rapidly increasing government regulation, OmiseGO is a breath of fresh air in the financial world, and will increase the freedom of its users. Banks often stifle and destroy new businesses under the instruction of the government; those who use OmiseGO for their financial services don’t have to worry about that and can grow their business without limiting restrictions.
This is not advice. Advice should be accepted by your chosen legal counsel only and financial advice should come from a licensed or certified financial professional. As always - do your homework and make decisions based on your own education. Seek information and look into projects before adding to or diversifying your portfolios.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://cryptocoremedia.com/omisego-decentralized-blockchain/