As we enter the third age of crypto – the first being Satoshi’s White Paper phase and the second being the exchange phase – we find ourselves in a maze of twisty tokens, all different. Enter Saga.
Created by Israeli VC Ido Sadeh Man and investor Moshe Hogeg, Saga a token connected to a cash reserve and can initially only be owned by accredited and identified investors, creating a sort of hybrid non-anonymous cryptocurrency that should appeal to the risk-averse.
The team sees three kinds of cryptocurrencies in the future.
“Hyper-volatile currencies, which lack a monetary policy, are usually anonymous,” said Sadeh Man. “Stablecoins are pegged to other assets thus preventing their organic growth and major players in this space are opaque concerning their funds. Saga’s economy model is designed to allow growth. Participants are obliged to undergo a Know Your Customer process, assuring Saga’s economy is compatible with traditional financial institutions.”
In other words, buying Saga is like buying into a “stable currency,” a goal that has thus far been elusive in the cryptocurrency industry. “Creating a currency is about striking a delicate balance between prospect and stability. Saga aims to provide a moderate, sensible middle way,” the team wrote. “When designing the funding scheme, we decided not to conduct an ICO. We are happy to find ourselves addressing the public, asking for trust – only when we have value to show for it – once the Saga currency is ready and launched.”
The team has raised a $30 million “seed round” from personal funds, Mangrove Capital Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
They also have a deep-thinking back bench with Jacob A. Frenkel, PhD, chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, and Prof. Emin Gün Sirer, a blockchain researcher, on the advisory. They’ve also added Nobel Laureate in Economics, Prof. Myron Scholes, just in case.
“Technology is not enough,” said Sadeh Man. “The design of a currency requires a broad, interdisciplinary effort. While technology provides the tools, the essence resides in solid monetary policy. Saga has assembled a team of world leaders, combining expertise from several fields: Economics, Mathematics, the Humanities and Social Sciences, to establish the new currency.”
They will launch the currency in Q4 2018. Saga’s currency will be connected to a reserve and “Saga’s smart contract adjusts the money supply to meet market demand. Therefore, the reserve acts as a buffer, limiting the impact of market fluctuations,” he said.
“In practice, when the economy expands, the contract increases SGA supply, slowing price appreciation. Conversely, when Saga’s economy shrinks, the contract reduces the money supply, thereby curbing any large drops in SGA price.”
A stable cryptocurrency has always been a dream for the average crypto investor and maybe there have been plenty of brain – and brainless – solutions. While creating reserve variable fractional reserve-backed cryptocurrencies is nothing new in theory, putting it into practice is far harder. Saga, which prides itself on not being a technology company but instead a more multi-disciplinary solution, may be poised to crack the code.