OmiseGO (OMG) is an open payment platform built on the Ethereum open-source public blockchain. Their slogan is “Unbank the Banked” and was created in 2013 as a project from Omise that became a successful fintech company. It was to serve as a payment gateway system that was developed for the Southeast Asian markets – OMG’s ICO capped out at 25 million in June 2017.
Between June 2017 through December 2017, it performed very well, going from $0.81 to $20.
The purpose of OmiseGo is to make it easier for foreign workers to send money home to their families in developing countries who don’t have access to banks. With this system, millions of users can now change digital currencies for fiat currencies. For those who may not know, fiat currencies are issued and regulated by governments, i.e. paper money.
In addition, OMG provides a means for anyone to pay and exchange any digital asset. For example, someone can use the OmiseGo network to pay for services using Bitcoin, AirMiles, or your own country’s fiat currency to make purchases or buy food while traveling in any in the world. All with very low fees.
In an informal announcement, OmiseGo announced in late 2017 that they are already working with McDonald’s in Thailand and have plans for expansion.
From the announcement:
“From a business angle, we’re launching OmiseGO to support Omise payments and all existing stakeholders, including our existing and future merchants, such as McDonald’s in other countries in Asia – McDonald’s Thailand is just the start. Through OmiseGO, all Omise merchants will be able to seamlessly accept payments in multiple currencies, including ETH or BTC or other cryptos, without needing to know what their client is paying in.”
It is also solved many of the problems that Bitcoin has run into, primarily the issue of scalability. It uses a modification of the Ethereum network called Plasma.
In late 2017 they also met with the central bank in Thailand. Stay tuned for any follow-up news that could drive the price of OMG even higher.
How can you buy OMG?
You first need to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum on Coinbase and then transfer it over to your account at Binance or KuCoin to exchange it for OMG. For reference, check out our guide –Cryptocurrency Investing: How to Buy Altcoins. If you get stuck or need help, send us a message through our Facebook page or use our contact page and someone on staff will walk you through the process.
