With the objective of addressing these shortcomings, the International Token Standardization Association (ITSA) aims at implementing comprehensive market standards for the global token economy including but not limited to the following three integral building blocks:
International Token Classification (ITC): a framework for classifying cryptographic tokens according to various different dimensions (economic, technological, legal, etc.), which is already applied to the top 800+ tokens and will be available within a few weeks
International Token Identification Number (ITIN): a unique identifier similar to the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) for all types of cryptographic tokens that enhances transparency and operational handling (e.g. on websites such as coinmarketcap.com some token symbols are already used twice)
International Token Database (Tokenbase): a large-scale dataset for business and academia covering 800+ tokens with information on daily prices, market capitalization, trading volumes, etc.
The association will provide ITC, ITIN and a sample version of TOKENBASE free of charge for personal non-commercial use. Commercial or academic use require a license, which is granted as integral part of the ITSA membership.
ITSA provides multiple sets of databases. Some of them are for free, others are only available for ITSA members. The Tokenbase includes also links to third-party data providers such that data included in Tokenbase can easily be linked to third-party datasets. From an IT perspective, these linkages can also be called “foreign keys”.
Tokenbase is provided in multiple data formats to ease the application of these datasets. For example, data is provided in Excel/CSV format which can be used widely. Next, ITSA provides data in DTA format to comply with the statistical software Stata. Finally, data is provided also in a format that can easily be used within R or Python. The goal of ITSA is to make data available widely such that, ideally, interested persons or researchers can use the data with one “double click”.
Tokenbase, ITC and ITIN data can be downloaded with the following links. In general the file structure looks as follows:
Therefore ITSA provides easy to use datasets which can be used with a double click. You are welcome to try it out. Open the following file (takes 1 minute) to see a basic dataset about the top 5 tokens (based on a snapshot as of 2019-01-01):
If you click on this link, you can download one of our basic datasets: token characteristics and daily/weekly data from token markets (i.e., prices, volumes, market capitalizations) of the top 5 tokens (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple).
If you, for example, open the first file of this list, you can easily access basic data of the Bitcoin (and other top 5 tokens). The following table indicates the name of the token, the price (in USD), the market capitalization (in USD), the volume (in USD) and the currently circulating supply. ITSA gained this data from Coingecko. As follows, this is a snapshot of the file exhibiting daily token market data: “20190414_itsa_tokenbase_top5_wtd302_token_daily.xls”.
After leaving your email address in the form below you will gain access to the sample data in multiple data formats. This service is free. The ITIN directory includes the current version of the ITIN; both in Excel format and also in further file formats. The Tokenbase directory includes various file depending on the sophistication of the user:
Top 5, top 100, top 600: There are multiple data sets available including the top 5, top 100 or top 600 tokens according to market capitalization with a given snapshot date (2019-01-01).
Key files vs. all files: The “key files” only include a list of tokens and token market data on a daily and weekly data. “All files” include also ITC associations in an optimized database structure format, ITINs etc. The astute user should download “all files” whereas others should focus only on the “key files”
Excel vs. other file formats: For ease of use, data is provided in Excel enabling data access with just a double click. Other file formats are also provided for astute users. These other file formats have been created for users of more sophisticated statistical software packages: Stata, SPSS, R, Python. Of course, CSV files are also provided. ITSA provides both Stata files for advanced analytics and also clear instructions on how to use these Stata files with SPSS, R, Python. For an explanation about this, please see the section about data formats. To use SPSS, R, Python the astute user only has to apply 2-3 commands which we clearly specify to provide a good user experience.
The entire database in multiple file formats is available only to members. ITSA members have the license to use the data according to their respective membership type (e.g. academic and non-profit use for academic and non-profit members). If you are not a member of ITSA yet and wish to use datasets provided through its International Token Database (Tokenbase), you will first have to register as a member and accept the terms of use. After acceptance as a member, you will be granted access to Tokenbase under the specific terms of use associated with your type of membership. Please have a look at the membership section on the ITSA website for more information on the different membership types and the associated terms of use. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
