Origin Protocol

What is OGN?

• The Origin Protocol uses OGN, its native ERC-20 token as a payment and governance token, as well as an incentivisation mechanism to make a true decentralized marketplace a possibility.
• Origin Protocol eliminates intermediaries – third parties that earn fees for processing transactions – to allow market participants access to unbiased pricing of goods or services, while reducing transaction costs.
• Origin Protocol also uses OGN as an incentivisation system designed to reward users for contributions to the network. As an example, affiliates are rewarded with cryptocurrency tokens when they assist sellers in marketing their offerings. This, in turn, helps to continually expand the network through self-interest.
• Conventional businesses require consumers to have access to traditional mediums of finance (such as credit cards or bank accounts) that creates a significant barrier of entry to those who are underprivileged such as those living in poverty or without easy access. Original Protocol allows those in these kinds of circumstances to have access to its  services without any  requirements.

Key Metrics

Ticker	OGN
Token Name	Origin Protocol
Token Type/Protocol	ERC-20
Total Token Supply	1,000,000,000
Current Circulating Supply	See Coinmarketcap
Market Capitalisation	See Coinmarketcap
Token Creation Date	2017
Can it be mined?	No

Who is behind OGN?

Original Protocol’s core team consists of over 20 members from seven different countries with strong fundamentals in blockchain technology. Their head office is located in San Francisco although the various investors backing them can be found all over the world. 

One of the two co-founders heading Origin Protocol is Josh Fraser, who discovered his love of coding at the age of 10. Three companies – EventVue, Torbit & Forage – have all been successfully venture-capital backed showing his capabilities in identifying market needs, and driving a company to achieve its goals. 

His partner in crime, Matthew Liu was the 3rd product manager to be employed by the ubiquitous Youtube, before becoming the Vice President of Product Management at Qwiki and subsequently, Bonobos. With a strong track record, he also has an MS and BS, from the titular Stanford university, that bring a diverse set of skills to the table.

Other members of the team like Yu Pan and Franck Chastagnol are founding members of PayPal, and team leaders at Youtube, Google and Dropbox respectively. Overall, the team is well-rounded with specialized skill sets in all aspects of the business. 

What is the purpose of OGN?

Origin Protocol seeks to amend the issues plaguing online markets, such as the lack of transparency, inequitable transaction fees, the lack of innovation, and centralization. Origin protocol seeks to lay the foundation for a highly-incentivized, and mutually beneficial decentralised playground for both buyers and sellers to conduct commerce.

Insights

• Censorship resistance – Origin Protocol’s decentralised nature means that the marketplace is difficult to be banned or shut down.
• Incentivisation – The protocol is designed to attract and retain new users by giving them ownership and rewards based on their contribution to the network, such as powering transactions, promoting listings, and developing applications. In this manner, the network will continually grow and scale at a rapid rate to the benefit of its users.
• Lower fees – the exclusion of middlemen means that buyers and sellers are able to transact with each other directly through smart contracts, allowing a more conventional free market.
• The protocol raised over 38.1M USD through both private and public token sales between November 2017 and July 2018 – indicating a strong interest by users for adoption. The venture capital firms who participated include the likes of Pantera Capital, FBG Holdings and Kenetic Capital.
• While being Ethereum-based (ERC-20 compliant), Origin Protocol uses meta-transactions which in effect allow users to transact without having to pay Ethereum gas fees.
• As of 8th August 2021, over 39 thousand unique wallets are holding OGN, with over 81m OGN tokens (worth over 64m USD) locked in staking to secure the network.

Risks

• Like many cryptocurrencies with one or more fund-raising rounds, OGN coins are gradually unlocked for purchase/sale in the open market. This has the potential of rapidly increasing supply at token unlocks. While this is partially mitigated by the vesting schedule (which means that token unlocks are staggered over time), this is a concern in short-term unlocks although it will not have an effect long-term once all tokens have entered circulation. 
• As with all commerce-related marketplaces, the value of the platform is constrained by the user base. For instance, OGN’s price will be highly correlated with its user base, as with all cryptocurrencies.

News and Updates

• Origin Protocol recently launched its OGN governance portal, which extends a governance and voting power to OGN holders. By doing so, OGN is moving closer towards decentralization by allowing token holders to propose and vote on changes to any changes within the Origin Protocol ecosystem.
  Origin Protocol has partnered with various world-famous artists including Trevor Jones and Alotta Money on EthBoy, a piece designed to evolve over time based on ETH/BTC and gas prices, as well as various other external variables. The commissioning of the NFT piece on the Origin Marketplace is a capstone achievement as it onboards more users and artists into its ecosystem.

Community & Whitepaper Links

• Official Website: https://www.originprotocol.com/en/
• White Paper: https://www.originprotocol.com/en/whitepaper

Disclaimer:
All investments are speculative and involve substantial risk and uncertainty. Investors should understand the nature of digital assets including the terms of return and the risk of assets. We encourage investors to fully understand the assets and the risk associated with them prior to making any investment.