[ANN][XCP] Counterparty - Pioneering Peer-to-Peer Finance - Official Thread

[lonsharim]

How flexible is the Counterparty Protocol in terms of it being run atop other alt-coins instead of just Bitcoin?

Has anyone got any opinions about which alt-coin might be the optimal base for Counterparty?

Most alt-coins are nearly identical to Bitcoin, and Counterparty will run fine on any one that is. It would need a little tweaking for something like Namecoin or Peercoin, but not much, I think.

By which you mean support for OP_RETURN feature of Bitcoin? I think I read something on that before, i.e. that it is used to store data on the XCP transaction taking place.

I was reading an article on one of the bitcoin magzine websites and they mention that apart from the obvious external dependency (i.e. btc blockchain) the other problem is that it could be sluggish or time consuming searching the block chain for specific transactions that have stored XCP data. Is this a concern for you at this stage.

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[SyRenity]

Why would you send BTC in particular to the issuing address? One may use any asset to buy any other, and one may use the distributed exchange for IPOs.

With XCP, one tiny dividend transaction can pay all of the dividends simultaneously. With BTC, you need one output per address. Of course, there's nothing stopping someone from paying BTC dividends, but there's no reason to put that feature in the Counterparty protocol (it wouldn't be a Counterparty transaction).

Ok, I see where you coming now from.

Can you explain a bit how the distributed exchange will work with the IPO's? People will still need to buy XCP, or they could send it any other asset? Also, how these assets will be backed?

[PhantomPhreak]

How flexible is the Counterparty Protocol in terms of it being run atop other alt-coins instead of just Bitcoin?

Has anyone got any opinions about which alt-coin might be the optimal base for Counterparty?

Most alt-coins are nearly identical to Bitcoin, and Counterparty will run fine on any one that is. It would need a little tweaking for something like Namecoin or Peercoin, but not much, I think.

By which you mean support for OP_RETURN feature of Bitcoin? I think I read something on that before, i.e. that it is used to store data on the XCP transaction taking place.

I was reading an article on one of the bitcoin magzine websites and they mention that apart from the obvious external dependency (i.e. btc blockchain) the other problem is that it could be sluggish or time consuming searching the block chain for specific transactions that have stored XCP data. Is this a concern for you at this stage.

As far as I know, most alt-coins support multi-sig, which does suffice.

It's not a problem, as all of the transactions only need to be found once, in order, and then they are stored in their own (much smaller) database. And we have ten minutes between blocks, so there's plenty of time to parse new transactions as they appear on the network. The main disadvantage of the 'meta-coin' approach is that there can't be any SPV clients (someone needs to store the whole blockchain, as it were), but there are plenty of ways around that.

[PhantomPhreak]

Once I figure out how to send and receive XCP I'll send you guys a pretty sizeable donation in XCP

Thanks!

[PhantomPhreak]

Why would you send BTC in particular to the issuing address? One may use any asset to buy any other, and one may use the distributed exchange for IPOs.

With XCP, one tiny dividend transaction can pay all of the dividends simultaneously. With BTC, you need one output per address. Of course, there's nothing stopping someone from paying BTC dividends, but there's no reason to put that feature in the Counterparty protocol (it wouldn't be a Counterparty transaction).

Ok, I see where you coming now from.

Can you explain a bit how the distributed exchange will work with the IPO's? People will still need to buy XCP, or they could send it any other asset? Also, how these assets will be backed?

The assets will be backed however the issuer likes.

For an IPO, one would create an asset, announce off-blockchain how it would be backed, and then sell a certain number of that asset at whatever price, for whatever asset.

For instance, if I want to make an IPO for MiningCompanyX, I could issue 10^5 of MININGX (divisible or indivisible), then sell perhaps 3*10^4 of those on the distributed exchange at a price of .1 BTC/MININGX and raise 3*10^3 BTC. The backing here might be the promise of future dividends.

[SyRenity]

The assets will be backed however the issuer likes.

For an IPO, one would create an asset, announce off-blockchain how it would be backed, and then sell a certain number of that asset at whatever price, for whatever asset.

For instance, if I want to make an IPO for MiningCompanyX, I could issue 10^5 of MININGX (divisible or indivisible), then sell perhaps 3*10^4 of those on the distributed exchange at a price of .1 BTC/MININGX and raise 3*10^3 BTC. The backing here might be the promise of future dividends.

And the BTC will be sent to asset address?
How they will be paid back later on in form of divs, as BTC or XCP?
(This the point that I don't quite get...)

[PhantomPhreak]

The assets will be backed however the issuer likes.

For an IPO, one would create an asset, announce off-blockchain how it would be backed, and then sell a certain number of that asset at whatever price, for whatever asset.

For instance, if I want to make an IPO for MiningCompanyX, I could issue 10^5 of MININGX (divisible or indivisible), then sell perhaps 3*10^4 of those on the distributed exchange at a price of .1 BTC/MININGX and raise 3*10^3 BTC. The backing here might be the promise of future dividends.

And the BTC will be sent to asset address?
How they will be paid back later on in form of divs, as BTC or XCP?
(This the point that I don't quite get...)

The BTC will be used to buy the shares on the distributed exchange with the order command (in the CLI), and the dividends will (usually) be paid in XCP with the dividend function.

If you don't want to pay dividends, but rather only make good on something like an IOU, then there's no reason that you should do that in XCP over any other asset.

[lonsharim]

The main disadvantage of the 'meta-coin' approach is that there can't be any SPV clients (someone needs to store the whole blockchain, as it were), but there are plenty of ways around that.

OK I don't understand the behind-the-scene details of SPV clients other than the fact that it does not do its own verification but connects to a trusted node. I feel like I am missing something here. Why couldn't a thin client do the same with XCP.

[PhantomPhreak]

The main disadvantage of the 'meta-coin' approach is that there can't be any SPV clients (someone needs to store the whole blockchain, as it were), but there are plenty of ways around that.

OK I don't understand the behind-the-scene details of SPV clients other than the fact that it does not do its own verification but connects to a trusted node. I feel like I am missing something here. Why couldn't a thin client do the same with XCP.

That's not SPV, and Counterparty may use a trusted node (or a consensus of multiple trusted nodes) just fine. See the Bitcoin wiki.

[irrawaddybtc]

Im using the latest build from github on Ubuntu and trying to send XCP but am getting the following python TypeError:

Code:

 File "/home/xxxxxx/counterpartyd_build/dist/counterpartyd/lib/bitcoin.py", line 177, in serialise
    secret_exponent, compressed = wif_to_tuple_of_secret_exponent_compressed(private_key_wif, is_test=testnet)
TypeError: wif_to_tuple_of_secret_exponent_compressed() got an unexpected keyword argument 'is_test'

[mtbitcoin]

It does take quite a while for counterpartyd to sync even starting from block 278,000ish. This will eventually become a big problem I think, if not fixed.

A stop gap solution would be to offer a partially updated downloaded able counterparty db. However, with this approach there could be trust issues.

[SyRenity]

The BTC will be used to buy the shares on the distributed exchange with the order command (in the CLI), and the dividends will (usually) be paid in XCP with the dividend function.

If you don't want to pay dividends, but rather only make good on something like an IOU, then there's no reason that you should do that in XCP over any other asset.

So the only inconvenience, is that investors will have to convert XCP back to BTC (if they want so)? Is there any way planned to pay dividends in BTC, or this will need to be handled separately?

[ewibit]

Im using the latest build from github on Ubuntu

me too latest build

Code:

 ./counterpartyd.py --rpc-password=xxxx server
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./counterpartyd.py", line 13, in <module>
    import appdirs
ImportError: No module named 'appdirs'

[doitnow]

Hi guys. Can you do me favor? I try to figure out how to operate counterpartyd and this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from={addressX} --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 312, in
transmit
    result = rpc('signrawtransaction', [unsigned_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'Error: Please enter the wallet passph
rase with walletpassphrase first.', 'code': -13}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Where should I enter the wallet passphrase?

Thanks for your time to help me out. As soon as I figure out this wallet i'll import an address from blockchain.info and will send 10% of my XCP to the devs. I know it won't be much as I only have few hundreds but still appreciate for your help

[Fernandez]

Hi guys. Can you do me favor? I try to figure out how to operate counterpartyd and this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from=1CibkcwpBRZAMZU
wv6hXE1eNoZ8Mb38cQg --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 312, in
transmit
    result = rpc('signrawtransaction', [unsigned_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'Error: Please enter the wallet passph
rase with walletpassphrase first.', 'code': -13}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Where should I enter the wallet passphrase?

Thanks for your time to help me out. As soon as I figure out this wallet i'll import an address from blockchain.info and will send 10% of my XCP to the devs. I know it won't be much as I only have few hundreds but still appreciate for your help

Do not know about counterparty (I just randomly bumped into here), but for unlocking an wallet in general, go to console, debug and type walletpassphrase <pass> <time to keep it unlocked in seconds>

[doitnow]

Hi guys. Can you do me favor? I try to figure out how to operate counterpartyd and this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from=1CibkcwpBRZAMZU
wv6hXE1eNoZ8Mb38cQg --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 312, in
transmit
    result = rpc('signrawtransaction', [unsigned_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'Error: Please enter the wallet passph
rase with walletpassphrase first.', 'code': -13}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Where should I enter the wallet passphrase?

Thanks for your time to help me out. As soon as I figure out this wallet i'll import an address from blockchain.info and will send 10% of my XCP to the devs. I know it won't be much as I only have few hundreds but still appreciate for your help

Do not know about counterparty (I just randomly bumped into here), but for unlocking an wallet in general, go to console, debug and type walletpassphrase <pass> <time to keep it unlocked in seconds>

Thanks! will do!

[cityglut]

The BTC will be used to buy the shares on the distributed exchange with the order command (in the CLI), and the dividends will (usually) be paid in XCP with the dividend function.

If you don't want to pay dividends, but rather only make good on something like an IOU, then there's no reason that you should do that in XCP over any other asset.

So the only inconvenience, is that investors will have to convert XCP back to BTC (if they want so)? Is there any way planned to pay dividends in BTC, or this will need to be handled separately?

Yes, but 'convert XCP back to BTC' means to sell XCP on the distributed exchange using the 'order' function.

If one wanted to pay dividends in BTC, one would need to send BTC to whichever addresses own the asset on which one was paying dividends.

The FAQ on counterparty.co has an - albeit brief - explanation as to why XCP must be used for bets, betting fees and dividends.

[doitnow]

Done it.

unfortunately this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from={addressX} --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 315, in
transmit
    return rpc('sendrawtransaction', [signed_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'TX rejected', 'code': -22}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Code:

'TX rejected', 'code': -22

 TX rejected?

[Patel]

Done it.

unfortunately this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from=1CibkcwpBRZAMZU
wv6hXE1eNoZ8Mb38cQg --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 315, in
transmit
    return rpc('sendrawtransaction', [signed_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'TX rejected', 'code': -22}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Code:

'TX rejected', 'code': -22

 TX rejected?

I fixed this by doing a rescan on my bitcoin qt. It is probably because wallet balances do not match. Check blockchain.info/address/[address] and if your qt balance match or not. If they don't, do a rescan.

[doitnow]

Done it.

unfortunately this error came up:

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>C:\counterpartyd_build\run.py burn --from=1CibkcwpBRZAMZU
wv6hXE1eNoZ8Mb38cQg --quantity=0.0029
Confirm? (y/N) y
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\counterpartyd.py", line 585, i
n <module>
    json_print(bitcoin.transmit(unsigned_tx_hex, unsigned=args.unsigned))
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 315, in
transmit
    return rpc('sendrawtransaction', [signed_tx_hex])
  File "C:\counterpartyd_build\dist\counterpartyd\lib\bitcoin.py", line 69, in r
pc
    raise exceptions.BitcoindError('{}'.format(response_json['error']))
lib.exceptions.BitcoindError: {'message': 'TX rejected', 'code': -22}

C:\counterpartyd_build>

Code:

'TX rejected', 'code': -22

 TX rejected?

I fixed this by doing a rescan on my bitcoin qt. It is probably because wallet balances do not match. Check blockchain.info/address/[address] and if your qt balance match or not. If they don't, do a rescan.

Balance matched on both. Is this something to do with this error while doing the testsuite?

Code:

C:\counterpartyd_build>run.py tests
============================= test session starts =============================
platform win32 -- Python 3.2.5 -- pytest-2.5.1
collected 0 items / 1 errors

=================================== ERRORS ====================================
______________ ERROR collecting dist/counterpartyd/test/test_.py ______________
dist\counterpartyd\test\test_.py:45: in <module>
>       raise exceptions.BitcoinConfError('Put a (valid) copy of your \
E       AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'BitcoinConfError'
=========================== 1 error in 1.08 seconds ===========================

C:\counterpartyd_build>