The Winklevoss’ bitcoin price index, the ‘WinkDex’, has made its first appearance on Bloomberg. Listed on the platform under WINKBTCO, the move is an important step for the young index, launched earlier this year.
In a brief blog post the team say they are honoured to be working with Bloomberg to bring a “blended bitcoin price index” to the wider investor community. In addition, the WinkDex is about to get a number of new features over the next few weeks, including an API.
WinkDex was launched in February and it is just one bitcoin related initiative headed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. The twins are working towards the launch of their Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The idea was floated last year and the ETF is currently awaiting regulatory approval.
The WinkDex can be viewed as a component of the Winklevoss’ ETF push. It was announced in one of the ETF regulatory filings and described as a method of establishing an accurate spot price that eliminates price confusion and reflects the true value of bitcoin.
The Winklevoss brothers claimed to hold 1% of all bitcoins when their initial ETF document was submitted last July.
Bloomberg and bitcoin
Bloomberg started experimenting with a bitcoin price ticker last year. The platform has since integrated bitcoin pricing (from exchanges Coinbase and Kraken) alongside news on its Bloomberg Professional service.
The service has more than 300,000 subscribers, mainly financial professionals, who pay upwards of $20,000 each year to use it.
These users now have the ability to track bitcoin prices along with relevant news and social media posts. However, Bloomberg has reiterated that the decision is not an endorsement of bitcoin, emphasising that investors cannot yet trade the cryptocurrency on its platform.