Headquarters London, UK, UK Industry Digital Currency Website www.coindesk.com | Area served Worldwide Employees 15+ Launched May, 2013 | |
CoinDesk is a news site specializing in bitcoin and digital currencies. CoinDesk began publishing in May 2013, and was founded by serial entrepreneur Shakil Khan. Khan is also an investor in BitPay, a bitcoin payment processor. In September 2013, Jon Matonis, former executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, joined CoinDesk as a contributing editor. CoinDesk also provides guides to bitcoin for those new to digital currencies. In January 2016, CoinDesk was acquired by Digital Currency Group for an estimated amount of US$500K-600K.
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Bitcoin Price Index
The CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (CoinDesk BPI) was launched in September 2013. The Bitcoin Price Index is an average of bitcoin prices across bitcoin exchanges, and began by using price data from Bitstamp, BTC-e and CampBX. Although Mt. Gox data was not used initially, due to withdrawal concerns for US customers, in November 2013, Mt. Gox was added to the BPI due to "a reduction in the risk premium and the option of additional deposit/withdrawal methods". The Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange was eventually removed from the index in February 2014 after its "persistent failure to meet the index's standards for inclusion".
The index was restored to an average of three exchanges in March 2014 with the inclusion of Bitfinex price data, according to CoinDesk: "Since the decline of Mt. Gox, we have observed that Bitfinex has been able to sustain a dramatic increase in its share of the total volume of U.S. dollar-denominated bitcoins traded”.
Publications which have referenced the Bitcoin Price Index data or price include the BBC, WSJ, Reuters, NY Times, CNBC and Bloomberg.
CoinDesk BPI change log
- 20th Sep 2013 12:00:00 UTC: A criterion was added specifying that exchange daily trading volumes must meet minimum acceptable levels as determined by CoinDesk.
- 4th Nov 2013 12:00:00 UTC: The minimum acceptable volume criterion was amended so that each exchange must represent at least 2% of the total 30-day cumulative volume for all exchanges in the BPI.
- 7th Nov 2013 00:00:00 UTC: CampBX was removed from the BPI due to sustained diminishing volume and a lack of regular 24-hour trading activity.
- 28th Nov 2013 12:00:00 UTC: Mt. Gox was added to the BPI due to a reduction in the risk premium and the option of additional deposit/withdrawal methods.
- 10th Feb 2014 15:30:00 UTC: The sixth criterion for inclusion in the BPI was amended to include the option for bitcoin transfers to be completed within seven days in place of fiat transfers.
- 10th Feb 2014 16:00:00 UTC: Mt. Gox was removed from the BPI for failing to meet its criteria.
- 13th Mar 2014 16:00:00 UTC: Bitfinex was added to the BPI.
- 26th Mar 2014 23:00:00 UTC: New standalone China Bitcoin Price Index created based on the price and volume of bitcoins exchanged for Chinese yuan (CNY); two exchanges included at launch (BTC China and OKCoin).
- 30th Mar 2014 00:00:00 UTC: End-of-day open, high, low and closing BPI is now based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time. The BPI does not adjust to follow British Standard Time.
- 30th Jun 2014 15:00:00 UTC: LakeBTC and Huobi were added to the USD and CNY BPIs respectively.
- 31st Oct 2014 15:00:00 UTC: LakeBTC was suspended from the BPI for 30 days.
State of Bitcoin report
In February 2014, CoinDesk released its first 'State of Bitcoin' report. 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”. A follow-up report in Q2 2014 highlighted that venture capital investment in bitcoin companies was up 28 percent compared to the previous quarter, and that VC investment was pouring into European Bitcoin startups.
iPhone App
In April 2014, CoinDesk released an iOS app. The app includes news stories and editorial, as well as its 'Bitcoin Price Index'.