Cryptocurrency for dummies
Cryptocurrency for dummies: In this article, we answer common questions about cryptocurrency.
In this article we will show you how to run bots and automate trading through Firi's API. This opens up opportunities for those who want to use more advanced strategies in trading and market making.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions about API.
API stands for Application Programming Interface, and is a programming interface used to exchange data between two different applications. Many of our customers use the API to automatically create and delete orders, check the order book and check the history of a market, and a lot of other features. Using APIs makes it easy to make trading as automated as possible. Withdrawals using Firi's API are not possible due to security reasons. If you lack functionality, need help or have questions, contact our customer support team.
In order to use our API, we recommend reading Firi's API documentation. Thereafter you need to create API keys. To do this, please follow these easy steps:
You will now get both API Key, Client ID and Secret Key. Note that "Client ID” and "Secret Key" will only be displayed one time when you create a key with us.
If you use NodeJS, it's very easy to get started, since we have an SDK you can use. You can find the Firi API SDK here.
Here are some examples of how you can use our API to streamline the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies.
On most stock exchanges, there are people who do what is called market making. Market makers place orders on both sides of the order book. This means both buy and sell orders. This way, the market maker sets buying and selling prices in the market and creates liquidity.
The market maker makes money from the positive difference between the buying and the selling prices. If prices fluctuate a lot, there is of course a risk that you will lose out on the actual price fluctuations. This can go both ways, it is also possible that you will make money on these fluctuations, but it is important to be aware of the risk.
Market making is therefore necessary to maintain stable markets. When the price difference between buying and selling in a market becomes too big, it does not become interesting for people to trade in that market.
Another way to make money with automated trading is through arbitrage. In short, arbitrage is exploiting the difference between prices in two different markets. An example would be that you see that the price of bitcoin is higher on another exchange than with us. If this is the case, you can buy bitcoin on Firi, make a transfer to the other exchange, and then sell it there. You will then make money on the difference in price.
It is not common to do this manually, but to automate this via the crypto exchanges' APIs. What most people do is to have both bitcoin and fiat currencies, such as EUR and NOK, listed on several exchanges. Then they set up a bot that checks the prices of the various exchanges they use. When the bot registers that the price on one exchange is higher than on the other, it buys and sells at the same time.
By using a bot and having deposits standing on both exchanges, you avoid the risk of the price fluctuating in the time it takes to transfer from one exchange to the other. There are bots that support most major international exchanges, but we do not know that any of these bots support Firi as of now. However, it's not too complicated to add support for Firi if you want, since our API is easy to use.
It is also common to run bots that do both arbitrage and market making at the same time, i.e. two ways to make money. It is important to remember that there is always a risk of loss, it can be due to errors in software, markets with low liquidity, rapid fluctuations in price, and so on.
Are you interested in knowing more about API trading with Firi? Please contact us.