Could someone please explain the difference between counterparty and some of the other cryptos purporting to do the same thing, like mastercoin, namecoin, ethereum etc?
thank you
Functionality-wise, Counterparty has the most features live and available right now. It is also important to note that Counterparty can trade directly against BTC on the Counterparty decentralized exchange - something others cannot do.
The major difference and in my mind though is that Counterparty is developed under the same principles as Satoshi. The platform was developed for the people to use and *never* was there and will there be some IPO that favours and enrichens the developers. The developers of the platform had to buy in exactly the same way in which everyone else during the proof of burn period.
All other platforms either:
* Have an extremely small number of large holders, or
* Have a 'social contract' to 'richly reward early adopters, or
* Have raised funds in a commercial fashion,
Counterparty is built by the people for the people.