CoinDesk

A global news resource on Bitcoin and digital currencies.

This London-based resource and news operation aims to be the “Reuters of Bitcoin” according to its founder Shakil Khan. As an angel investor in Spotify and bitcoin startup BitPay, Khan noticed a gap in the news coverage for bitcoin and digital currencies in general when other entrepreneurs constantly questioned him about bitcoin. CoinDesk was launched on May 1st 2013^[1]. In September 2013, Jon Matonis, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation joined CoinDesk as a contributing editor.

CoinDesk Information Centre

On August 21st 2013^[2], CoinDesk launched a bitcoin information centre. This contained guides on everything from the very basics of digital currency to how to set up your own bitcoin mining rig.

CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index

CoinDesk launched a proprietary Bitcoin Price Index on September 11, 2013^[3]. The Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) represents an average of bitcoin prices across leading global exchanges that meet criteria specified by the BPI. It is intended to serve as a standard retail price reference for industry participants and accounting professionals.

Criteria for inclusion in the BPI are:

1. Exchange must serve an international customer base;
2. Exchange must provide a bid-offer spread for an immediate sale (offer) and an immediate purchase (bid);
3. Minimum trade size must be less than 1,500 USD or equivalent;
4. Daily trading volume must meet minimum acceptable levels as determined by CoinDesk;
5. Banking transfers in or out of the exchange must be completed within seven business days.

Upon launch, BitStamp, BTC-e and CampBX met these criteria and were included in the index. On the 7th Nov 2013 CampBX was removed from the BPI due to sustained diminishing volume and a lack of regular 24-hour trading activity. On the 28th Nov 2013 Mt. Gox was added to the BPI due to a reduction in the risk premium and the option of additional deposit/withdrawal methods.

Mt. Gox was removed from the Price Index on Feb 10th^[4], after on-going withdrawal issues with the Mt.Gox exchange^[5]. Bitfinex was added to the USD BPI in March, 2014^[6].

On the 26th March 2014, a new standalone index for the Chinese Yuan was created^[7]. Upon launch, data from BTCChina and OKCoin were included. On the 30th Jun 2014 LakeBTC and Huobi data was added to the USD and CNY BPIs respectively.

The main features of the index are as follows:

• The CoinDesk BPI is a simple average of leading XBT/USD exchange prices;
• The BPI is expressed as the midpoint of bid/ask spread;
• The BPI is updated every 60 seconds;
• If an exchange does not update its price for more than 30 minutes, it is omitted from the live BPI calculation until it is updated again;
• New index historical data commences on 1 July 2013;
• Prior index historical data is obtained via Mt. Gox;
• End-of-day high, low, and closing BPI is based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or British Summer Time (BST) when appropriate;
• Non-USD BPI prices are implied based on rates obtained via openexchangerates.org;

The CoinDesk BPI is now used by the Bitcoin Foundation and several charting platforms. A free API is available for developers.

State of Bitcoin Report

In February, CoinDesk released it's first 'State of Bitcoin' report^[8]. The aim of the report is "to provide an overview of key cryptocurrency trends, challenges, and opportunities, while also highlighting the most important developments over the last year.”

CoinDesk released an update of the report for Q2 2014, which showed that Venture Capital investment in bitcoin companies was up 28 percent compared to the previous quarter^[9].

CoinDesk iPhone App

In April 2014, CoinDesk released an iOS app^[10]. The app includes news stories and editorial, as well as its 'Bitcoin Price Index'.

External Links

• CoinDesk.com website
• @CoinDesk Twitter
• RSS Feed
• LinkedIn
• App Store CoinDesk iOS App
• Slideshare State of Bitcoin 2014

References

• [1] TechCrunch - Shakil Khan launches CoinDesk a bitcoin resource
• [2] The Next Web - Baffled by the world of Bitcoin? This beginner’s guide will tell you everything you need to know
• [3] AllThingsD - What’s a Bitcoin Really Worth? CoinDesk Thinks It Has the Answer
• [4] Reuters - Bitcoin plunges after marketplace indefinitely halts withdrawals
• [5] CoinDesk - CoinDesk Removes Mt. Gox from Bitcoin Price Index
• [6] BitBeat: Coindesk Index Finds a Mt. Gox Replacement
• [7] CoinDesk - CoinDesk Launches Chinese Yuan Bitcoin Price Index
• [8] Re/Code - (Almost) Everything You Want to Know About Bitcoin, in One Report
• [9] Gigaom - This week in bitcoin: VC investment is up and shows no signs of stopping after Xapo
• [10] The Next Web - Keep up with Bitcoin news and get price alerts with CoinDesk’s new iOS app