OmiseGO is building a decentralized exchange, liquidity provider mechanism, clearinghouse messaging network, and asset-backed blockchain gateway. OmiseGO is not owned by any single one party. Instead, it is an open distributed network of validators which enforce behavior of all participants. It uses the mechanism of a protocol token to create a proof-of-stake blockchain to enable enforcement of market activity amongst participants.
Owning OMG tokens buys the right to validate this blockchain, within its consensus rules. Transaction fees on the network including payment, interchange, trading, and clearinghouse use, are given to non-faulty validators who enforce bonded contract states. The token will have value derived from the fees derived from this network, with the obligation/cost of providing validation to its users.