On Monday, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne announced the online retailer had hired two Counterparty developers to build a decentralized stock exchange to issue corporate stock for Overstock and other companies.

Byrne confirmed the exchange, code-named Medici, would operate atop the Counterparty platform. This news caused the XCP price to soar (XCP is the native currency for the Counterparty platform).

Overstock Announces Decentralized Stock Exchange

Overstock CEO Patrick Byrnes announcement of a decentralized stock exchanged caused the XCP price to surge. The current XCP price is 790,297 satoshis. Chart from CoinGecko .

As WIRED reported. Overstock today announced that it has hired two Counterparty developers, including co-founder Robby Dermody, to build a digital decentralized stock exchange. Code-named Medici, Overstock hopes the exchange will serve as a decentralized alternative to traditional Wall Street brokers and exchanges.

The Medici exchangewhich Byrne hopes will achieve regulatory compliancewill operate atop the Counterpary platform (which itself functions on top of the Bitcoin blockchain) and allow users to buy and sell corporate stock. Overstock will issue their corporate stock on Medici, and they anticipate other companies will follow suit.

The planned exchange should tremendously reduce the difficulty and cost associated with stock trading. This increased efficiency could help average consumers make their first forays into the stock market.

XCP Price Soars

The news that Overstock is planning to build its crypto-Wall Street on top of Counterparty caused the XCP price to soar. XCP is the native currency of Counterparty, and though it is unclear to what extent Medici will integrate XCP, investors assume it will play an important role.

After beginning the day at 553,497 satoshis, the XCP price inclined steadily for about twelve hours. At that point, the XCP price took off, rising at a nearly vertical rate. When this article published, the XCP price was 790,297 satoshiswhich represents a 36% XCP price increase over the past day. Counterpartys market cap is now $7,731,902, ranking it tenth among cryptocurrencies. XCP trading volume surged as well, increasing 64% on Monday.

Analysis

In a week filled with bitcoin price tension, Patrick Byrnes decentralized stock exchange announcement brings welcome good news to the cryptocurrency community. Byrne and Overstock have yet to release many details about the Medici. Nevertheless, it is clear the project has the potential to revolutionize to weaken Wall Streets hold on the investment world, just like bitcoin can weaken the power central governments have over their citizens wealth.

Disclosure: The author is paid in and holds investments in bitcoin. He is not invested in or affiliated with any of the altcoins discussed in this article. Any advice contained in this article is solely the opinion of the author and does not reflect the views of CCN. Neither the author nor CCN is liable for your investing decisions, so do your homework and never invest more than you are willing to lose.

Images from Shutterstock.

Updated: October 7, 2014 at 2:29 am CET.