http://www.wired.com/2014/10/overstock-com-assembles-coders-build-bitcoin-like-stock-market
This is cool as fuck, tbh. Almost every 2nd gen crypto has been pitching to Overstock this year, and it looks like Overstock/Patrick Byrne has decided to cut through all the bs associated with choosing a platform in favour of developing their own. I'd have preferred they use NXT, but, hey, you can't win them all.
This means that we are going to see some very interesting developments for all of crypto.
If the Overstock/PB 'Medici' syatem can get SEC approval.....this could open the door for all 2nd gen crypto-currencies/asset issuance platforms, and certainly won't hurt with the adoption and use of 1st gen crypto.
I have a feeling that this project could be one of the things that drags crypto into the mainstream........
Fantastic news! Patrick Byrne, despite he being rather colourful, is the CEO of a solid listed public company. He's obviously not the lobbying type, but none of us are...and he has a lot more clout than all of us put together. Whatever he bulls through, will serve as a solid precedent for the AE of Nxt, plus the AEs of Nxt clones like NFD.
Durn right I'm rooting for him...
On the whole, I think Dave is right in his initial reaction that this kind of thing is good for crypto. I think it is when an IBM/Samsung (Yes, they just announced their own blockchain project) or Overstock or other powerful contender that adopts the blockchain that the real expansion of crypto will happen. Unfortunately for all of us that might mean our Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitshares, Ripple, and NXT might also very well die. Just imagine IBM and Samsung team up and make some kind of awesome blockchain tech that blows away bitcoin, or Apple or Google or the US government decides to throw its weight behind a blockchain. Counterparty was basically created by a single dude sitting behind his computer all day, how could he or anybody else in a similar position possibly compete against an army of engineers one of these companies could allocate, and allocate at a whim.
This Overstock and IBM/Samsung announcement marks a new era in blockchain. http://cointelegraph.com/news/112550/ibm-samsung-partner-to-reinvigorate-blockchain-technology