OmiseGO now appears to be a supported asset on Coinbase Custody. Could you please provide some clarity on this new development?
We honestly learned about this the same way you did, reading the /r/omise_go daily. Even though we are honored to see the OMG token in such fine company, we haven’t taken any initiative to have OMG included in Coinbase Custody. They would not need our permission to include OMG as a supported asset.
Can you go into more detail with information about the recent ETH transactions on quest.omg.network?
Quest.omg.network now points to a redeployed version of the Vysehrad testnet that Hoard had used for the Plasma Dog demo at Devcon. We repurposed the transaction viewer for some internal tests and experiments with testnet Ether - these were the ETH transactions visible from a few days ago.
What are the top three objections companies come up with when your business development team connects with them?
The main hurdles we’ve encountered so far among implementers are:
Many implementers are choosing to wait to implement the eWallet until the OMG Network is online.
A desire to first see examples of use cases in production, especially if their business model incorporates a cryptoeconomic incentive design proposal. As we’ve said before we’re working especially closely with the earliest implementers. Cumulatively, these specific proofs of concept become a proof of concept for the OMG Network itself.
Educating for shared understanding on “why blockchain”, blockchain design decisions and implications, and technical requirements for PoC and integration - often for multiple teams and layers of management within an enterprise. To help with this, we’re developing educational tools for us to employ when working with implementers, as well as for implementers to use internally within their own organizations.
How do you see OMG (with Ethereum) competing with Bitcoin (and lightning)? Do you think that OMG has the best chance to succeed?
Bitcoin is still the Schelling point when most people think about cryptocurrency; but this sort of doesn’t matter. We’re not trying to build a new currency. We’re trying to build a more interoperable, scalable and efficient platform for decentralized finance, among all currencies.
On Ethereum anybody has the ability to easily issue a token whose value is either dynamic in reference to other assets, or pegged in some way (whether it’s to a Canadian dollar, a loyalty point or a cat); and that token is then free to move about the Ethereum environment. Ethereum will go on about its business regardless of which currencies are most popular or most highly valued.
Bitcoin is first and foremost a currency, and a network on which to transact with said currency. If Bitcoin as it exists today is to absorb all the world’s transactions, we will first need to see both widespread acceptance of the general concept of decentralized money, as well as widespread acceptance of Bitcoin specifically as the dominant decentralized currency. The volatility of Bitcoin and the technical know-how that is still required in order to use it safely are pretty major impediments to its widespread use as a store of value.
We chose to build on Ethereum because of its potential and adaptability. It isn’t a currency; it’s a platform for applications, and has an incredibly dynamic community of developers working on both the base protocol and a huge array of Ethereum-powered applications. The versatility of function allowed by Ethereum’s smart contracts and token standards allows app builders to meet end users where they are, which makes it easier to reach a wider audience.
OMG and Lightning Network are not apples to apples either. Lightning is a layer 2 scaling solution which allows cheap, fast transactions across bidirectional channels. It’s a clever design but more limited than plasma in the functionality it enables. Plasma is an L2 solution as well - a more robust and adaptable one than Lightning - but is only one layer in OMG’s full-stack suite of tools for accessible, scalable decentralized finance on Ethereum.
In short: this isn’t a single-player game. The success of Bitcoin, with or without Lightning, doesn’t preclude the success of Ethereum or OMG. Ethereum and OMG are multitaskers. Both are designed as platforms on which to build, with support for any and all currencies - including ones that look and act a lot more like the ones that the average consumer is used to dealing with. We think this puts OMG on Ethereum well ahead of Bitcoin in terms of absorbing the world’s transactions.
Is the fact that David Knott is also involved with bit.fish a potential conflict of interest?
Though David Knott works for OmiseGO and bitfish they are separate entities and no sensitive information has been or will be exchanged between the two. As for f2pool and bitfish they are also separate entities and the same professionalism applies.
[x] Add questions and answers with proper formatting to issue;
OmiseGO AMA #6
OmiseGO AMA #6 - November 18, 2018
OmiseGO now appears to be a supported asset on Coinbase Custody. Could you please provide some clarity on this new development?
We honestly learned about this the same way you did, reading the /r/omise_go daily. Even though we are honored to see the OMG token in such fine company, we haven’t taken any initiative to have OMG included in Coinbase Custody. They would not need our permission to include OMG as a supported asset.
Can you go into more detail with information about the recent ETH transactions on quest.omg.network?
Quest.omg.network now points to a redeployed version of the Vysehrad testnet that Hoard had used for the Plasma Dog demo at Devcon. We repurposed the transaction viewer for some internal tests and experiments with testnet Ether - these were the ETH transactions visible from a few days ago.
What are the top three objections companies come up with when your business development team connects with them?
The main hurdles we’ve encountered so far among implementers are:
Many implementers are choosing to wait to implement the eWallet until the OMG Network is online.
A desire to first see examples of use cases in production, especially if their business model incorporates a cryptoeconomic incentive design proposal. As we’ve said before we’re working especially closely with the earliest implementers. Cumulatively, these specific proofs of concept become a proof of concept for the OMG Network itself.
Educating for shared understanding on “why blockchain”, blockchain design decisions and implications, and technical requirements for PoC and integration - often for multiple teams and layers of management within an enterprise. To help with this, we’re developing educational tools for us to employ when working with implementers, as well as for implementers to use internally within their own organizations.
How do you see OMG (with Ethereum) competing with Bitcoin (and lightning)? Do you think that OMG has the best chance to succeed?
Bitcoin is still the Schelling point when most people think about cryptocurrency; but this sort of doesn’t matter. We’re not trying to build a new currency. We’re trying to build a more interoperable, scalable and efficient platform for decentralized finance, among all currencies.
On Ethereum anybody has the ability to easily issue a token whose value is either dynamic in reference to other assets, or pegged in some way (whether it’s to a Canadian dollar, a loyalty point or a cat); and that token is then free to move about the Ethereum environment. Ethereum will go on about its business regardless of which currencies are most popular or most highly valued.
Bitcoin is first and foremost a currency, and a network on which to transact with said currency. If Bitcoin as it exists today is to absorb all the world’s transactions, we will first need to see both widespread acceptance of the general concept of decentralized money, as well as widespread acceptance of Bitcoin specifically as the dominant decentralized currency. The volatility of Bitcoin and the technical know-how that is still required in order to use it safely are pretty major impediments to its widespread use as a store of value.
We chose to build on Ethereum because of its potential and adaptability. It isn’t a currency; it’s a platform for applications, and has an incredibly dynamic community of developers working on both the base protocol and a huge array of Ethereum-powered applications. The versatility of function allowed by Ethereum’s smart contracts and token standards allows app builders to meet end users where they are, which makes it easier to reach a wider audience.
OMG and Lightning Network are not apples to apples either. Lightning is a layer 2 scaling solution which allows cheap, fast transactions across bidirectional channels. It’s a clever design but more limited than plasma in the functionality it enables. Plasma is an L2 solution as well - a more robust and adaptable one than Lightning - but is only one layer in OMG’s full-stack suite of tools for accessible, scalable decentralized finance on Ethereum.
In short: this isn’t a single-player game. The success of Bitcoin, with or without Lightning, doesn’t preclude the success of Ethereum or OMG. Ethereum and OMG are multitaskers. Both are designed as platforms on which to build, with support for any and all currencies - including ones that look and act a lot more like the ones that the average consumer is used to dealing with. We think this puts OMG on Ethereum well ahead of Bitcoin in terms of absorbing the world’s transactions.
Is the fact that David Knott is also involved with bit.fish a potential conflict of interest?
Though David Knott works for OmiseGO and bitfish they are separate entities and no sensitive information has been or will be exchanged between the two. As for f2pool and bitfish they are also separate entities and the same professionalism applies.