Genesis Block Ventures (GBV) announced the acquisition of OMG Network, which helps speed transactions and lower fees on the Ethereum blockchain by handling transactions off-chain, triggering a double-digit rally in the network’s OMG token.
“Through this acquisition, GBV is dedicated to leverage its network strength, to promote the accelerated growth of OMG Network, and further enhance the adoption of OMG blockchain in Asia and beyond,” GBV, an investment branch of the Hong Kong-based OTC trading firm Genesis Block, said in its Friday announcement.
GBV said it has been an active participant in this year’s decentralized finance revolution and has partnered with major exchanges such as Binance and FTX. The over-the-counter (OTC) trading firm aims to facilitate a smooth transition of OMG Network’s team and business from SYNQA (OMG Network was established as a SYNQA subsidiary in 2017) to GBV, in a bid to minimize the impact of the acquisition on the token’s price.
Regardless, OMG’s price jumped on the news, rising over 18% from $3.74 to $4.41 during the Asian trading hours.
“OMG surged higher overnight in reaction to the news that Hong Kong-based OTC trading firm is to acquire OMG Network.” Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the London-based prime Brokerage Bequant told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. “This is particularly notable development given the recent launch of Ethereum’s 2.0 Beacon Chain, which aims to solve various scaling problems, while Optimistic and ZK-Rollup have also been gaining traction.”
OMG rallied by over 200% in August as the DeFi-led congestion on Ethereum’s blockchain boded well for OMG network.