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Mind you I'm not dismissing XCP, it's fantastic technology and it will have many novel applications. But I just don't think it's going to have the same level of impact as bitcoin, which was truly a paradigm shift.
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I think you have a good point. However, I don't see HFT of cross (virtual) assets as a target utility for Counterparty.
One area which Counterparty targets areas where time scales of 10 minutes is magnitudes less than what is currently available in 'real life': issuance of shares, distribution of dividends and transfer of property. All of this is placed into the blockchain and provable.
I'd be interested to hear how Counterparty compares with traditional markets for betting (and spread betting).