Counterparty is a cryptocurrency project that extends Bitcoin in new and powerful ways, pioneering peer-to-peer finance. It allows Counterparty nodes to communicate with each other via the Bitcoin blockchain, creating digital tokens in a matter of seconds that can represent anything and are easily exchanged peer-to-peer. The native currency of Counterparty is XCP, used for advanced features and representing stake in the protocol. Counterparty also offers secure, fast, and user-friendly web, browser, and mobile wallets that provide all the power of the platform. Its smart contracts are Bitcoin aware and can interact directly with Counterparty tokens. Currently under development, payment channels support will allow rapid exchange of assets and are compatible with the Lightning Network. Counterparty is open-source with no profit model, offering extensive documentation for power users and developers on writing smart contracts and building services on its APIs.