Bitcoin Price Tracker

• 

  Picture of current day data. Absences of time data are represented as discontinuities

• 

  Picture of historic data graph, no discontinuity possible

Inspiration

The recent economic success of the Bitcoin piqued the interest of our team, also inspiring a modest investment into the currency.

What it does

The application queries a public exchange price API for real-time and historical pricing data on Bitcoin. Upon receiving historical data, it represents it as a graph. Upon receiving 'real-time' data, the application adds the new value to the daily record of values and represents the daily record as completely as it can with the records the system currently posseses.

How I built it

The team utilized the python matplotlib, python-qt4, and API/JSON libraries.

Challenges I ran into

For both members of the team, this was our first application using python for a deeper-that-surface level application, and we faced frequent frustration with the language, as well as the inconsistent library documentation. python-qt4 caused the team particular difficulty, by generating seemingly arbitrary results very frequently.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

This was the team's first attempt at working with an API, something we are both much more confident now that we were 24 hours ago. We are also proud to say we handled the issues we faced with a smile and a laugh.

What I learned

We learned a great deal about the inner workings of python, and learned an even greater deal of how many details of python we do not know at all.

What's next for Bitcoin Price Tracker

1. refactor the gui in to either tkinter, or Java, so that we may represent the data with a better user experience
2. add additional plots for other currencies/exchanges as options to the display
3. add bitcoin-related news (RSS) feeds to a margin of the display box

Built With

• coindesk-api
• python-2.7
• python-qt4