Inspiration
I think Bitcoin is pretty cool so I wanted to build something based around it, and spent some time looking through the blockchain API. After my research I was particularly interested in the interactions between foreign exchanges and bitcoin exchange rates and decided to build something around this.
What it does
Bitforex is a tool to visualize the interactions between foreign exchanges rates and bitcoin exchange rates. It pulls in real-time currency and bitcoin exchange rates and uses these to present you with profitable or unprofitable exchanges from bitcoin through multiple currencies, and back to bitcoin.
How I built it
Decided to use flask for the first time since I wanted to work in python and I also wanted to learn it. I used the blockchain API and yahoo finance API for real time exchange rate information, and the front-end uses the jinja2 template as well as HTML and CSS.
Challenges I ran into
Since I was using flask for the first time I came up with lots of "hacky" fixes that are far from elegant. The backend algorithm was a bit difficult to test due to slow internet and fairly long loading time when making API requests.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Built something that looks cool, that I think is cool, and involves Bitcoin. Those were my goals going into CalHacks!
What I learned
I learned a lot about flask, a lot about bitcoin, and a lot about how much better I am at coding after a 2 hour nap!
What's next for Bitforex
I want to add in lots of data visualizations so users can get a more visual way of observing forex/bitcoin interactions. Also speed is a slight issue, so I will look into better API options for pulling realtime foreign exchange rate information.
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