Leading Bitcoin price index, BitcoinAverage, has announced the release of its new system. It claims to revamp the pricing index to accommodate the needs of users at every level from casual to enterprise-grade.
A step forward from open-source to closed beta
The London-based company has been seeking to establish itself as the leading source for Bitcoin pricing since 2013 and has since been developing open-source application programming interface (API) tools to provide real-time Bitcoin data to mobile apps, web services and businesses worldwide.
It says in the announcement that BitcoinAverage is preparing for the launch of a new full-featured API that will be bundled with an updated front-end interface following beta testing and subsequent finalization of the programming interface.
Shaun Gilchrist, BitcoinAverage’s Founder, says:
“We are launching a closed beta of our API. Access will initially be provided to existing users, and then opened up to the wider community. It is our aim to continue providing the most comprehensive price data for the industry, and we hope that with the help of the community and their feedback, we will be best placed to do that.”
A variety of subscription packages
In addition, the company promises to be providing a tiered subscription program along with customizable packages tailored for users in need of something more robust.
The tiered structure will still offer a free plan for users, which has been a staple of BitcoinAverage’s service offerings. The gratis-level entry package will cater to existing users of BitcoinAverage’s API and will ensure no one is forced out following the system upgrade.
According to Gilchrist, one of the biggest changes will be the availability of packages to scale up for enterprising needs and otherwise; service offerings which have been asked of the Bitcoin price index since launching a few years ago.
Power to the users
Following the beta launch, users will be able to generate API keys for authenticated endpoints, allowing users finer control over the API and in turn provides a far better service to clients.
Further, customizable endpoints and custom indices - an industry first - will be made available to higher-tier users. Gilchrist explains, that these are important features, introduced because of the debate that surrounds what exchanges should or should not be included in an index.
He says in the press-release:
“Going back to Mt. Gox and the downtime or withdrawals issues, currently, chinese exchanges and the issue of inflated volume due to 0% fees, or sites like Localbitcoins and the high premiums that skew averages across the board. The playing field is far from uniform. So we provide clients with the ability to exclude one or multiple exchanges they may feel don't belong in an index.”
The company’s roadmap includes a far superior algorithm than their current volume weighted average price. The new system will allow the freedom to compile an index or indices from scratch.