Like the majority of the cryptocurrency market, the ERC-20 token OmiseGo (OMG) has suffered a tough week falling 12% over the past 7 trading days. More so, OMG has suffered a further price decrease totalling 30% over the past 30 trading days, and 66% over the past 90 trading days.
OmiseGo is currently exchanging hands at a price of $4.75, and is a staggering 83% down from the all-time high (ATH) price of $28.35. This extended price drop can be visualized in the graph below.
Although the markets are currently tumbling, it is extremely important to put the market drop into context. We know that the cryptocurrency industry on a whole is falling at a similar rate so this capitulation witnessed in the OMG market is not a singular event.
Despite this precipitous decline in price, we have 3 great reasons for you to keep on holding OmiseGO.
A Brief Overview of OmiseGo
OmiseGo is a payment solution created by its parent company Omise. Omise is based in Thailand and provides similar payment gateways to Stripe for users in Southeast Asia.
Their slogan is to “Unbank the banked” and the team continues to live up to this as they expand payment gateways into areas where access to financial services are limited.
For a more in-depth overview of OmiseGo, we recommend reading our “What is OMG” guide.
3 Reasons to HODL OMG
1. A Wallet, a DEX and Infinite Possibilities!
Before we run through the products that OmiseGo is developing, it is important to firstly understand payment networks currently operating in Southeast Asia.
Currently, a large proportion of the SE Asian population are currently unbanked, and those that are struggle to send money to each other across borders due to banks in different jurisdictions using different payment procedures as well as different local regulatory restrictions.
The majority of the population has access to smartphones and therefore manage their finances through mobile e-wallets. However, these e-wallets are limited, again due to local regulatory restrictions and users can only send funds to other users using the same wallet.
This is where OmiseGo presents a promising solution.
The OmiseGo Wallet
One of OmiseGo’s main focus is to release a mobile e-wallet SDK that is user and enterprise-friendly.
The wallet will be a white label-friendly e-wallet which developers can use to customise for their own needs. The e-wallet SDK will also allow enterprises to create their own version of the wallet specifically relating to their own enterprise needs.
One of the groundbreaking features of the white label e-wallet is that it will finally allow users to be able to exchange funds between different wallet providers as they are all based on the same SDK. This opens up the restrictions faced by current e-wallet providers as there can now be interoperability between one another.
Another groundbreaking feature of the wallet is that it will be currency agnostic, meaning that any cryptocurrency is welcome. It will achieve this by connecting the wallet to the second product that OmiseGo is releasing that we are extremely excited about, the Decentralized Exchange.
The Decentralized Exchange
OmiseGo plans to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX), expected some time in Q4 2018. The DEX will allow users to securely exchange cryptocurrencies among each other without the need to rely on a centralized provider such as Binance.
This greatly reduces the risk cost associated with keeping funds on a centralized exchange, and also improves the efficiency of exchange by reducing the fees required to make a transaction.
The DEX will run on the Plasma network which will be implemented on the OMG blockchain. The Plasma network, developed by Joseph Poon, is an off-chain scaling solution similar to the Lightning Network which is designed to take most small scale transactions off the blockchain to reduce the number of transactions on the main chain.
Users of the DEX will also benefit from fiat payment gateways that are provided by OmiseGo’s parent company Omise, allowing users to quickly buy cryptocurrencies with fiat in a seamless process.
2. An Array of High Profile Partnerships
Over the course of its lifetime, Omise has developed strong relationships to provide payment solutions with a host of important partners. Here we highlight the most important partnerships that they have fostered.
McDonald’s Thailand
Everybody knows the fast-food chain McDonald’s throughout the world. The Omise team has partnered with McDonald’s Thailand to provide payment solutions for over 240 branches across the country.
The Omise team has created an exclusive payment gateway for McDonalds Thailand, as well as a payment solution for the McDelivery app which is an extremely popular fast-food delivery option for McDonalds in Thailand.
Although this partnership has no relation to OMG as of yet, when the Omise team is finished developing and deploying each product in the OmiseGo network, we are expecting the payment solution to be moved to the OmiseGo network which in turn will benefit OMG holders.
Truemoney
Truemoney is a financial technology company that provides e-payments within SE Asia. Truemoney is a 15-year-old company that is a partner and a shareholder in Omise. They provide services including, but to limited to, bill scanning & paying, cash cards and online e-payments.
The partnership between Omise and Truemoney will increase the number of transactions leveraged upon the OmiseGo network once the Omise team moves all operations over to OMG.
PaysBuy
PaysBuy is one of the top 3 largest payment services in Thailand. It was announced in July 2017 that PaysBuy has been acquired by Omise. This acquisition will greatly increase the user base of OmiseGo, and therefore will help increase the adoption rate rapidly.
From the combination of just the 3 partnerships mentioned above, it is easy to see how these partnerships can greatly help adoption of OMG once the team is ready to move operations over to OmiseGo.
3. A Strong Team Supported By Experienced Advisors
The team surrounding the OmiseGo project is large, and combined together they have a significant level of experience in different fields related to the industry. Aside from the strong team, OmiseGo also has a star-powered, experienced advisory board.
Here we highlight some notable team members and advisors working on OMG.
Key Team Members
Jun Hasegawa – CEO/Co-founder
Jun Hasegawa is the co-founder and CEO of Omiseo. He is currently working on expanding operations for OmiseGo into other SE Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
He has previously worked for Google, has over 16 years in web development and has a strong understanding of payments networks in Thailand. Other than starting OmiseGo, Hasegawa has been founder and CEO of other companies such as Alpha-do Inc and LIFEmee.
Donnie Harinsut – COO/Co-founder
A graduate from Bangkok University International College, Harinsut has worked on projects with Hasegawa for over 15 years. This combined experience from the duo certainly has the capability of taking this project much further than they already have.
Vansa Chatikavanij – Managing Director
Chatikavanij, a Masters graduate from Columbia University, is tasked with making sure the project delivery is efficient. She is also in charge of managing the long0term business strategy and creating & maintaining partnerships.
Chatikavanij has previously worked as a water resource specialist for the World Bank Group and continues to serve as an advisor on the board.
Notable Advisors
Joseph Poon
Joseph Poon has been credited with creating the Lightning Network for Bitcoin. He has also helped with implementing a similar version, known as the Plasma network, on the Ethereum blockchain.
Poon was the primary author of the OMG white paper. Having such a capable advisor such as him speaks volumes to the vision of the project.
Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik Buterin is the founder of Ethereum, the network that OmiseGo is run on top of. He has been present at many OMG meetups and events, most notably a meeting that the OmiseGo team had with the Central Bank of Thailand in August 2017.
Having such a prestigious advisor such as Buterin should help to solidify confidence in the project.
Roger Ver
Roger Ver is a polarizing figure within the cryptocurrency industry. He was an early investor in Bitcoin-related companies back in the early days, and has since shifted the majority of his focus to Bitcoin Cash. Ver owns the powerful domain name Bitcoin.com and has one of the widest reaches within the cryptocurrency industry.
With such a strong team combined with an experienced advisory board, it is safe to say that they are committed to continue to develop the future of OmiseGo.
Conclusion
Although the worst may be over, the cryptocurrency market is still tanking and is expected to continue to fall until the overall bear trend has completed.
Despite the current market conditions, OmiseGo looks like it still has a strong future based on the reasons discussed above, which is why we think it’s a great coin to HODL for the long-term.
Related: OmiseGo 2018 Roadmap: Will This Be OMG’s Breakout Year?
