Blockchain-based Omni Foundation and CoinsBank to enable USD-Euro transactions on blockchain

The Omni Foundation, originally formed for Mastercoin, has teamed up with Omni Assets Tether Inc and other partner exchanges to release a 'Euro-coin' (EURT) that can be circulated and transferred on the Bitcoin blockchain.

In a statement, the Omni Foundation said that by using USDT (dollars stored digitally using Tether) and USDE (USDT’s euro equivalent), dollars can be converted into euros on the blockchain.

By partnering with Edinburgh exchange CoinsBank, these transfers can be sent directly to traditional European bank accounts via SEPA.

The Omni Foundation currently supports USDT on Tether, with daily trading volumes between $500,000 and $1 million on more than 5 exchanges. Tether aims to combine the stability of fiat currencies with the utility provided by digital currencies. The new EURT coin is fully backed by a Taiwanese trust bank, with a 1:1 ratio of deposits to issued coins. The issued coins use the Omni Layer protocol, just like the Bitcoin blockchain itself, and are fully decentralized, enabling low-cost transactions without the need for custodians or middlemen.

The Omni Foundation also said that they are integrating CoinsBank so that Tether USD and EUR holders can use debit cards to pay. CoinsBank's average daily trading volume of Bitcoin against EUR, GBP and USD exceeds $2 million. In addition, OmniDex will collect a portion of the commission from traders who pay through debit cards, which will only account for 0.05% in total, which will be collected through CoinsBank and automatically credited to Omni cryptocurrency holders.

Omni Foundation Board Member Patrick Dugan said:

“We are creating price discovery and remittance capabilities for the most liquid market on the Bitcoin blockchain, meaning we can offer a very tight trading spread and have the lowest exchange fees in the industry.”

The Omni Foundation created the USDE in part because of their increased supply of Tether dollars, which has exceeded $6.6 million, backed by deposits in Taiwanese banks. The Omni Foundation converts digital assets denominated in US dollars into euros, with EURT stored in OpenLedger and credited to traditional European bank accounts.

OpenLedger offers a decentralized exchange through BitShares that complements Omni Layer’s Bitcoin-based platform, and also hosts Maidsafe, Synereo, Agoras Tokens, and Tether.