Naming Convention¶

Catalyst introduces a standardized naming convention for all asset pairs trading on any exchange in the following form:

{market_currency}_{base_currency}

Where {market_currency} is the asset to be traded using {base_currency} as the reference, both written in lowercase and separated with an underscore.

This standardization is needed to overcome the lack of consistency in the naming of assets across different exchanges, and making it easier to the user to refer to the asset pairs that you want to trade.

Catalyst maintains a Market Coverage Overview where you can check the mapping between Catalyst naming pairs and that of each exchange. Catalyst will always expect in all its functions that you will refer to the asset pairs by using the Catalyst naming convention.

If at any point, you input the wrong name for an asset pair, you will get an error of that pair not found in the given exchange, and a list of pairs available on that exchange:

$ catalyst ingest-exchange -x poloniex -i btc_usd

Ingesting exchange bundle poloniex...
Error traceback: /Volumes/Data/Users/victoris/Desktop/Enigma/user-install/catalyst-dev/catalyst/exchange/exchange.py (line 175)
SymbolNotFoundOnExchange:  Symbol btc_usd not found on exchange Poloniex.
Choose from: ['rep_usdt', 'gno_btc', 'xvc_btc', 'pink_btc', 'sys_btc',
'emc2_btc', 'rads_btc', 'note_btc', 'maid_btc', 'bch_btc', 'gnt_btc',
'bcn_btc', 'rep_btc', 'bcy_btc', 'cvc_btc', 'nxt_xmr', 'zec_usdt',
'fct_btc', 'gas_btc', 'pot_btc', 'eth_usdt', 'btc_usdt', 'lbc_btc',
'dcr_btc', 'etc_usdt', 'omg_eth', 'amp_btc', 'xpm_btc', 'nxt_btc',
'vtc_btc', 'steem_eth', 'blk_xmr', 'pasc_btc', 'zec_xmr', 'grc_btc',
'nxc_btc', 'btcd_btc', 'ltc_btc', 'dash_btc', 'naut_btc', 'zec_eth',
'zec_btc', 'burst_btc', 'zrx_eth', 'bela_btc', 'steem_btc', 'etc_btc',
'eth_btc', 'huc_btc', 'strat_btc', 'lsk_btc', 'exp_btc', 'clam_btc',
'rep_eth', 'dash_xmr', 'cvc_eth', 'bch_usdt', 'zrx_btc', 'dash_usdt',
'blk_btc', 'xrp_btc', 'nxt_usdt', 'neos_btc', 'omg_btc', 'bts_btc',
'doge_btc', 'gnt_eth', 'sbd_btc', 'gno_eth', 'xcp_btc', 'ltc_usdt',
'btm_btc', 'xmr_usdt', 'lsk_eth', 'omni_btc', 'nav_btc', 'fldc_btc',
'ppc_btc', 'xbc_btc', 'dgb_btc', 'sc_btc', 'btcd_xmr', 'vrc_btc',
'ric_btc', 'str_btc', 'maid_xmr', 'xmr_btc', 'sjcx_btc', 'via_btc',
'xem_btc', 'nmc_btc', 'etc_eth', 'ltc_xmr', 'ardr_btc', 'gas_eth',
'flo_btc', 'xrp_usdt', 'game_btc', 'bch_eth', 'bcn_xmr', 'str_usdt']

In the example above, exchange Poloniex does not use USD, but uses instead the USDT cryptocurrency asset that is issued on the Bitcoin blockchain via the Omni Layer Protocol. Each USDT unit is backed by a U.S Dollar held in the reserves of Tether Limited. USDT can be transferred, stored, and spent, just like bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency. Given its 1:1 mapping to the USD, is a viable alternative.

$ catalyst ingest-exchange -x poloniex -i btc_usdt

Ingesting exchange bundle poloniex...
    [====================================]  Fetching poloniex daily candles: :  100%