Simple Token

Open Simple Token or OST is a protocol designed to support mainstream applications being built on Ethereum.

By Ki Chong Tran

4 min read

If blockchain wants to go mainstream, it will need to clear some “simple” hurdles–scalability, usability, and transaction costs. Though simple to identify, these hurdles are in no way easy to solve. Simple Token takes the approach of building its own blockchain–a side chain–on top of the Ethereum blockchain to help bring companies to the token party.

Problem

Ethereum can be slow, congested, and fees can get expensive. Simple Token aims to make blockchain development simpler and more business-friendly with fast, cheap, and easy to program tokens.

What is Simple Token (OST)?

Open Simple Token or OST a protocol designed to support mainstream applications being built on Ethereum. The team is building basic infrastructure and tools allowing companies the benefit of having their own crypto assets without having to build and deploy it themselves. At the core of the protocol is Simple Token (OST), an ERC-20 token that can be staked to create or mint custom tokens on an OST side chain. The value of the new token is directly linked to the value of the staked token.

Who Invented Simple Token?

The co-founders of Open Simple Token (OST) are current CEO Jason Goldberg, CTO Sunil Khedar, and Chief Strategist Benjamin Bollen. 

In 2008, Goldberg founded a company called Social Median, which sold for
$7.5 million that same year. He then went on to found Fab, an online designer product marketplace.

A brief history

  • December 2017 – OST is released on Ethereum mainnet
  • September 2018 – Open ST Mosaic layer-2 scaling solution is published, allowing more transactions per second and a lower gas price than the main Ethereum chain
  • October 2019 – Pepo app is formally launched at Devcon V in Osaka, Japan as a proof of concept.

What’s so special about it?

The OST platform allows users to create or mint their own “branded tokens”. These tokens are beneficial because they can be transferred extremely quickly and cheaply compared to normal ERC-20 tokens—making them ideal for micro transactions. Micro transactions are tiny transfers of value normally too expensive to be processed by credit card companies, but perfect for a scalable crypto token.

OST allows businesses to simply launch their own branded tokens—creating customized “Branded Token Economies.” Brands can use their own tokens to reward and incentive customers with minimal blockchain programming skills. 

OST partners include the
LGBT Foundation and their LGBT token, which is currently used in a popular gay dating app called Hornet.

What else is different?

The simplicity of launching branded tokens is made possible by the OST platform, the first “no-code” blockchain platform allowing nearly anyone to launch their own token and token economies. OST developer kits allow businesses to easily integrate tokens into any app and then use the OST platform tools to easily deploy, manage, and analyze the new tokens.

How are Simple Tokens produced?

Simple Tokens (OST) were created during an ICO in December 2017 where 46,828 ETH, worth about $20 million, was used to purchase 261,070,175 tokens. The sale raised nearly double the initial target and was purchased by over 6,000 addresses. There is a total supply of 800,000,000 OST.

How do you get hold of Simple Tokens?

The OST token is currently available for trading on exchanges such as Binance and Huobi. As an ERC-20 token, OST is compatible with nearly all Ethereum wallets.

What can you do with Simple Token?

Besides trading, OST tokens are best used on the new Pepo mobile app, which is built by the OST team. Pepo is aimed to be a social networking and video app (similar to TikTok) designed specifically for the crypto community. Like with other branded tokens on the OpenST platform, Pepo takes OST tokens and stakes them to create Pepo Coins. Pepo Coins are ERC-20 tokens used as tokens of appreciation within the Pepo platform. Because Pepo runs on an OST side chain, Pepo coins can be transferred quickly and easily between users. Like with other OST branded tokens, Pepo Coins can be unstaked and converted back to OST tokens.

Although you can’t transfer Pepo Coins off the Pepo platform, you can convert them into gift cards.

The Future

With Pepo up, running, and ready to connect the crypto world, OST is seeking to move beyond a single blockchain. Their ecosystem is perfect for fast micro transactions and by 2020, they aim to support machine-to-machine transactions allowing their technology to be hooked up for Internet of Things (IOT) applications. Eventually OST plans to expand its platform to many different blockchains beyond Ethereum.

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