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 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.
