BitcoinAverage removes Bitfinex from its bitcoin price index

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Well established blockchain asset data provider BicoinAverage.com has announced today they will be removing (for now) Bitfinex price data from their calculations. The company is known for its Bitcoin Global Price Index (GBX) used by many companies for BTC pricing data.

BitcoinAverage joins CME Group, BitMEX and Deribit in dropping the exchange as they deal with issues which led to halting user bank wire deposits.

The data provider said the situation has forced their hand to temporarily remove the exchange from its calculations.

Shaun Gilchrist, CEO of BitcoinAverage said:

“For those who may not understand why this is an issue, there are still trades executing right? It comes down to the reason the trades are occurring. It could be argued (and is very likely), that a large portion of the trades are people converting USD to Bitcoin simply to reduce their exposure on the exchange, as currently this is the only way to remove funds.”

“In turn this pushes the price up higher than other exchanges (at the time of writing this around $60), and we no longer believe this is a fair representation of the market price.”

BitcoinAverage like others is monitoring the situation and is looking to reintroduce the exchange when the issues are resolved. Being one of the largest BTC/USD exchanges in the world and well regarded, the situation has been a surprise on such sudden notice.

The index calculation change on the GBX is effective starting today.