user44: I'm thinking here specifically of instruments that take a Bitcoin-like approach to trusted parties, eliminating them wherever possible and typically built with Bitcoin as their platform.  (As opposed to simply having a real-world trusted entity issue a Bitcoin-containing or Bitcoin-related financial instrument in the traditional method).
Financial instruments include things like bonds, stocks, contracts, additional currencies, etc.
For example, I know jgarzik was working on smartcoin for a while (has development stopped?) and there are things like this you can do with coloured coins.  Can anyone offer some insight on what is actually being developed re: these and other approaches, and especially what has reached an implemented, usable level?

user1766: Lots of people that we know about and probably many more that we don't know about are developing a diversity of financial instruments for bitcoin. What instruments exactly will depend on your definition of instrument.
Here is an interesting one:
cvToken:
An effort to stabilize the bitcoin price by pegging a token backed by a basket of commodities to it.

44: <p><strong>I'm thinking here specifically of instruments that take a Bitcoin-like approach to trusted parties, eliminating them wherever possible</strong> and typically built with Bitcoin as their platform.  (As opposed to simply having a real-world trusted entity issue a Bitcoin-containing or Bitcoin-related financial instrument in the traditional method).</p>

<p>Financial instruments include things like bonds, stocks, contracts, additional currencies, etc.</p>

<p>For example, I know jgarzik was working on <a href="https://github.com/jgarzik/smartcoin#readme" rel="nofollow">smartcoin</a> for a while (has development stopped?) and there are things like this you can do with <a href="http://www.bitcoinx.org/" rel="nofollow">coloured coins</a>.  Can anyone offer some insight on what is actually being developed re: these and other approaches, and especially what has reached an implemented, usable level?</p>
 1766: <p>Lots of people that we know about and probably many more that we don't know about are developing a diversity of financial instruments for bitcoin. What instruments exactly will depend on your definition of instrument.</p>

<p>Here is an interesting one:</p>

<p><a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=197799.0" rel="nofollow">cvToken</a>:
An effort to stabilize the bitcoin price by pegging a token backed by a basket of commodities to it.</p>
