Counterparty Developers Leave Overstock's Medici Project, XCP Price Falls 35%

CoinDesk reports that Counterparty co-founders and developers Robby Dermody and Evan Wagner have departed Overstock's "Medici" project, which seeks to create a decentralized securities Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term based on crypto technology.

CEO Patrick Byrne, an outspoken critic of Wall Street, launched the project last October. An Overstock spokesman said that there has been a shift in the project's direction and that other protocols are being incorporated.

The developers, confirming their departure, have said that they are embarking on a new project in addition to continuing development for Counterparty.

The announcement in October sent Counterparty's currency (XCP) soaring in what was the first leg of a winning streak bringing it to all-time highs in mid-November.

Since then, however, XCP has fallen hard. The market has also not taken kindly to the recent announcement which, at best, entails that Counterparty won't be the exclusive go-to protocol for Byrne's project. Indeed, when it was first announced in July, multiple protocols were under consideration.

Today's loss of as much as 35% brings its price to 0.0056 BTC ($1.23), a 5-month low and 75% off its November peak. In dollar terms, it is off by over 85%.

The losses bring XCP's market cap to $3.2 million, now ranking it 15th, just a hair ahead of YbCoin. At its peak, it had ranked as high as 5th.