The Open Simple Token (OST) protocol was created to support crypto in mainstream consumer applications. Mainstream consumer applications can use the OpenST platform for a simple, integrated development experience to tokenize and build economies through their user base. The OpenST was built on the active work of great teams in the decentralized space. According to the whitepaper, the OpenST platform allows companies to stake Simple tokens on the Ethereum mainnet to create branded tokens for consumer applications.

Building on OpenST enables participating companies to benefit from network effects that are more difficult for companies to achieve otherwise. Both the company and its end users reap these benefits. By being part of the open network, end-users can earn and spend seamlessly between different consumer applications.

Simple Tokens address user experience issues, currently slowing the mainstream adoption of cryptographic security tokens, thus enabling crypto-economics in consumer applications. A meaningful solution to this problem requires a coordinated economic, legal, and technical engineering effort provided by OpenST.

OpenST operates as a nonprofit organization and manages the development of the OpenST protocol. The platform also performs high-level guardian tasks on protocol instances associated with simple ERC20 tokens on public Ethereum.

Simple Token is the native token of the OpenST protocol. Simple Tokens can be used as collateral for valuable crypto assets to mint utility tokens. In addition, Simple Token serves as the base token on the utility chain for calculating gas (fees) consumption.

The OpenST protocol creates a bridge between two blockchains for different purposes. A value blockchain is necessary to hold cryptographically protected valuable assets and a utility blockchain with utility tokens on which the assets are held. Utility chains need to support lower transaction fees and lower transaction confirmation times than value chains. The OST platform enables micro-transactions in mainstream consumer applications using utility tokens.

The token generation event for Simple Token was completed in the first milestone on November 7, 2017. The second milestone chalks the active support and engages with third-party developers to build on the OpenST protocol and create software and tools that provide a rich user experience. Milestone three marks the integration of mature decentralized scaling technology into OpenST to support an open platform where over 10,000 member companies can tokenize their existing mainstream consumer applications.