Counterparty developers have launched a new venture, Symbiont, to use their protocol for smart securities markets. The venture was launched in conjunction with MathMoney f(x).
Mark Smith, MathMoney's founder and CEO, said that there are "severe infrastructural problems associated with the emerging math-based currency trading ecosystem." Therefore:
"After studying the intricacies of the Blockchain over the last few years and working with Counterparty on a separate project it became clear that blockchains in general, and Counterparty specifically, could solve long standing, previously intractable problems that exist in modern financial markets. This epiphany made the decision to join forces with the Counterparty team a logical one."
Robby Dermody and Evan Wagner of Counterparty had been working with Overstock on its Medici project, which seeks to create a decentralized cryptosecurity marketplace, but their work ended when, according to the project's management, other protocols had to be tried.
They explained that their latest project was the next step in helping improve the transparency, Liquidity and efficiency of capital markets. According to its website, features like built in escrow and clearing, as well as automated corporate actions, are envisioned.
The price of Counterparty's currency, XCP, has slumped by over 80% since its mid-November peak. It fell hard after the Overstock termination, but has performed reasonably well during the past week. One XCP is currently worth 0.005 BTC, or $1.50. It currently ranks 14th in market cap, worth $4 million.
