Counterparty & Dispensers

BlockVault integrates the Counterparty protocol, a platform that enables creating and trading digital assets directly on the Bitcoin blockchain. Through this integration, users can explore, buy, and sell tokens and collectibles that exist natively on Bitcoin — without relying on secondary blockchains.

What Is Counterparty?

Counterparty is an open-source protocol that runs on top of Bitcoin. While Bitcoin on its own only allows sending and receiving BTC, Counterparty adds the ability to create custom assets (tokens, collectibles, digital artwork) that are permanently recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain.

This means that Counterparty assets inherit Bitcoin's security and decentralization. They don't depend on a centralized server or a separate blockchain: their existence is inscribed in the very same Bitcoin transactions that miners around the world process.

Key Concepts

• Asset: any token created on Counterparty. It can represent digital art, loyalty points, project shares, or any other concept. Each asset has a unique name (for example, PEPECASH, FLOORCARD) and can be either divisible (like currencies with decimal places) or indivisible (whole units only).

• XCP: Counterparty's native token. It is used for certain protocol operations, such as creating assets with custom names. It is not required to purchase assets through dispensers.

• Issuance: the act of creating a new asset. The creator decides the name, total supply, whether it is divisible, and can include a description or link to an image file.

• Locked: a locked asset cannot issue additional units. This guarantees that the total supply is fixed and cannot be inflated — similar to how Bitcoin has a maximum of 21 million coins.