Volabit API

Create users and send or request money to them.

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VOLABIT API DOCUMENTATION

The following document is divided into three parts. Part I describes how to gain access to the swagger documentation, Part II describes how to generate your first token and how to refresh your token and Part III covers the API calls that can be made as well as some implementation tips.

PART I. ACCESS SWAGGER DOCUMENTATION.

The swagger documentation provides an overview of all the methods with their parameters and expected responses.

  1. Go to https://www.volabit.com/api-docs/
  2. Enter the following APP ID a47f325d0718ccd3e8aa1ec29c47d6d3a2cf18bca639b3fb1014b0362d163d06 and click save.

  3. Sign into your account or create one and click on Authorize button.

    To get full access to the API we will require you send us some KYC/AML documents. Please contact support@volabit.com for further instructions.

PART II. CREATING AN APP AND MANAGING TOKENS

Once the paperwork has been cleared it is time to generate an Application ID with its secret key and use these to generate a token and all subsequent token refreshes.

Go to https://www.volabit.com/oauth/applications and create an application with the default Redirect URL urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob. In the following view, click Authorize, follow instructions until you are provided with an authorization code.

if you like to do this programmatically you can redirect your users to https://www.volabit.com/oauth/authorize?client_id=APP_ID&redirect_uri=REDIRECT_URL&response_type=code.

This authorization code (AUTH_CODE) will be used to generate a access_token and a refresh_token with the following call:

    curl -F grant_type=authorization_code \
    -F client_id=APP_ID \
    -F client_secret=APP_SECRET \
    -F code=AUTH_CODE \
    -F redirect_uri=urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob \
    -X POST https://www.volabit.com/oauth/token

Tokens can be used to make calls until they expire every 8 hours, afterwards you will use the refresh_token to generate a new token.

    curl -F grant_type=refresh_token \
    -F client_id=APP_ID \
    -F client_secret=APP_SECRET \
    -F refresh_token=REFRESH_TOKEN \
    -X POST https://www.volabit.com/oauth/token

You can check your token info in

    curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
      https://www.volabit.com/oauth/token/info

Tip: Check for an expired token in every call you make

Now that you can create and refresh tokens, lets move on to the interesting part.

PART III: API IMPLEMENTATION

For partner services

Create User api/v1/users [POST]

For a seamless money sending and receiving experience Volabit requires you to register your customer as a Volabit user.

After you have created a Volabit user you can proceed to push and request payments from him/her.

Send Money to a User api/v1/users/send [POST]

In order to minimize exposure to the BTC value changes, Volabit allows some services to create instant/green addresses. Any money sent to one of these addresses will be immediately converted to fiat currency.

Request Payment from a User api/v1/users/requests [POST]

You will create a payment slip for the user and will provide a payment Bitcoin address. Whenever the user pays the slip (convenience store, bank deposit, etc) the fiat will be automatically converted to Bitcoins and immediately sent to the address that was provided when making the API call.

Send Money to User Implementation

  1. If you haven’t already, create a Volabit user for your user, ideally you will use the email address he used for signing up with your service. This action is done with a POST api/v1/users with the following parameters:

    • [email] required: email of your user
    • [password] optional: if left blank Volabit will generate a random password for the user. An email notification will be sent to the user.

    Bash Example

      curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
    -F user[email]=a_user@volabit.com \
    -X POST https://www.volabit.com/api/v1/users

  2. Get a quote in BTC for the amount of pesos to be sent to the user. GET api/v1/spot-prices allows for BTC/MXN and MXN/BTC conversions that include Volabit’s fees, hence the spot suffix.

    • [currency_from] required: Base currency you are converting from
    • [currency_to] required: Counter currency you are converting to.
    • [amount] required: Amount of the Base currency you want to convert to Counter currency. For sending 10,000 pesos to a Volabit user the params are: currency_from = MXN, currency_to = BTC, amount = 1000000

    Bash Example

      curl -F currency_from=BTC \
    -F currency_to=MXN \
    -F amount=100000000 \
    https://www.volabit.com/api/v1/spot-prices

  3. Generate a BTC address for the user. POST api/v1/users/send. Any bitcoins sent to this address will be immediately converted to fiat with 0 confirmations. Note that this method allows for selecting who will pay the fee. If Sender is selected, the Volabit user will receive the full amount entered. If Receiver is selected, the fees will be deducted from the amount sent. Params:

    • [email_to] required: Email of the Volabit user that will be credited the money.
    • [currency_from] required: Only BTC for the moment
    • [currency_to] required: Only MXN for the moment
    • [amount] required: Amount in fiat (MXN) in cents the Volabit user will receive.
    • [fee_payer] required: Will the fee be deducted from the Volabit user? or will the BTC amount returned include the fee?

    Bash Example

      curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
    -F email_to=a_user@volabit.com \
    -F currency_from=BTC \
    -F currency_to=MXN \
    -F amount=500000 \
    -F fee_payer=SENDER \
    https://www.volabit.com/api/v1/users/send

Request Payment from User Implementation

  1. If you haven’t already, create a Volabit user for your user, ideally you will use the email address he used for signing up with your service. This action is done with a POST api/v1/users with the following parameters:

    • [email] required: email of your user
    • [password] optional: if left blank Volabit will generate a random password for the user. An email notification will be sent to the user.

    Bash Example

      curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
    -F user[email]=a_user@volabit.com \
    -X POST https://www.volabit.com/api/v1/users

  2. Create a payment slip for your user so you can collect a payment from him/her. POST api/v1/users/requests

    • [email] required: Email of the Volabit user a payment is being requested from
    • [currency] required: The payment slip’s currency (only MXN for now)
    • [amount] required: The amount for which the payment slip will be created (in cents).
    • [type] required: For what convenience store will the slip be created for, you can get all accepted method through GET api/v1/users/requests/methods.
    • [address] required: Bitcoin address where you want Volabit to send you the payment. Bitcoins will be sent the moment the payment is confirmed in Volabit’s platform.
      curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
    -F email=a_user@volabit.com \
    -F currency=MXN \
    -F amount=500000 \
    -F type=oxxo_mx \
    -F address=q15YTN2uxdJ7GMkvQ2prVJVfHcFw3t5YEwjq \
    https://www.volabit.com/api/v1/users/requests

If you have any questions please contact genaro@volabit.com