In the crowded race to become the leading ‘Bitcoin 2.0’ platform, Counterparty has stood out by avoiding fancy crowdsales and instead building a platform that works. The protocol, which sits on top of Bitcoin and thus benefits from the security of its mining power, allows issuing assets, paying dividends or trading in a decentralized way. Over the past year, it has been the platform of choice for many crowdsales and is also what powers LTBCoin.
Co-Founder Robby Dermody joined us for a discussion of the features and evolution of the project.
Topics covered in this episode:

Why they create the initial XCP supply by destroying bitcoins
What the different components of the Counterparty system are
What distinguishes embedded consensus systems like Counterparty
Why crowdfunding has become a major use case for Counterparty
Why Counterparty’s Ethereum-style smart contracts will play an important role in the future
Their new company Symbiont, which aims to commercialize Counterparty’s technology

Episode links:

Counterparty
Counterparty Architecture
Devon Weller A Specification for the Counterparty Protocol
Counterwallet
Symbiont
Blockscan Voting Scoreboard

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/074