Security is certainly one of the biggest concerns of anyone possessing virtual currency, or any currency for that matter. But flexibility and user-friendliness are important as well. In that spirit the new Coinkite API allows users to build complete cryptocurrency systems with very little hassle and at a lower cost.

Transferring funds, searching by transaction number, linking back to achieved vouchers, all have been simplified. There is also a feature that might raise some eyebrows, however. You are able to remotely control your Coinkite terminals, even printing receipts remotely, formatted to your specifications.

Security is always an issue as it doesn’t matter how functional the API is if the data is not protected. Coinkite uses the Pubnub Platform which not only provides you with real-time status updates but your web visitors as well through push notification. This allows you several advantages:

You can create Bitcoin smart invoices that respond to being paid

You can unlock content, providing digital goods immediately

Automatically send “thank you” notes to customers thanking them for their transaction

Push all account activity either to the browser or backend, as desired

Does not require hosting super-sensitive P2P clients

The security for the above comes from their use of internally based on BIP32 BIP32 Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) wallets stored in a Hardware Secure Module (HSM). This model sends a welcome email to each new member. The email will contain two keys: The Extended Public Key (xpubkey) for deposits and an encrypted copy of the matching Extended Private Key (xprivkey).

When new members want to interact with their account, they simply provide the xpubkey, which allows them to see all of the public keys associated with the account and to verify the xpubkey’s sub path.

The API itself is very user-friendly as well. It allows members to check balances, send funds, email funds, create vouchers, search by transaction hash, and from your chair you can monitor deposits, withdrawals, logins, and any other events associated with your account. And because of the language kit offered free by Pubnub, you can get toolkits in 20+ languages and platforms. Finally you can set the system up to fetch and display public data about both exchange rates and CoinKite locations globally.

The API downloadable demo on their website is not the full package. The full sized invoice system was simply too large to include in a demo but the company supplied a sample invoice and the code can be downloaded and run locally in the App Gallery, including instructions on how to make a Bitcoin ATM. Moreover, CoinKite plans to add more features in the near future, some of which are listed below:

Sending funds via SMS

Enhanced event hooks

More terminal control to allow for things like a QR scanner, reader, keypad or magstripe to be used.

The API demo is definitely worth a look if you are in the market for opening a new Bitcoin start up in your city. A system like this will lighten the workload for businesses that sometimes have difficulties adapting to new technologies. As these technologies become more user-friendly, more businesses and people in general would begin to use them.

For more information about Coinkite’s APIs, view the FAQ section here.

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