My first instant answer that displays the balance of a Bitcoin address is ready to go!


![bitcoinbalanceexample](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/28984/3097081/58ffc4c8-e5db-11e3-8400-c66338059119.png)
**What does your instant answer do?**
 
Shows the current, confirmed balance of any public Bitcoin address.
 
**What problem does your instant answer solve (Why is it better than organic links)?**
 
This solution is better than organic links because most public Bitcoin addresses are never indexed by search engines, thus when a user searches for one they usually get zero results.
 
The most common reason to search for a public address is to get a balance, either for one’s own address, or to determine if an address contains sufficient funds to cover a liability. Thus our Instant Answer returns the balance, the most common need.
 
To summarize:
 
Problem: searching a Bitcoin address yields no results
Solution: show the balance of an address when user searches it
 
**What is the data source for your instant answer? (Provide a link if possible)**
 
Chain.com, a block chain API service: https://chain.com/#docs-address
 
**Why did you choose this data source?**
 
Chain.com is the only supported API for this data source.  See this blog post as an example of the company’s focus on API reliability: http://blog.chain.com/post/86919823336/chain-operations
 
**Are there any other alternative (better) data sources?**
 
Other services have had consistent, documented problems with up-time and accuracy.  This is because other services provide block chain data as an afterthought to their core offering (such as a wallet), and thus do not dedicate resources to ensuring highly available, low latency access to block chain data.
 
**What are some example queries that trigger this instant answer?**
 
A user simply queries any public Bitcoin address.  Here are three example searches:
 
17x23dNjXJLzGMev6R63uyRhMWP1VHawKc

1Gn2dRFqouUHvuWPVhriCDtP3qVQc59WHy
 
3QJmV3qfvL9SuYo34YihAf3sRCW3qSinyC
 
**Which communities will this instant answer be especially useful for? (gamers, book lovers, etc)**
 
Any individuals, institutions, services, or media entities that use, study, or report on Bitcoin
 
**Is this instant answer connected to a DuckDuckHack [instant answer idea](https://duck.co/ideas)?**
 
Yes, it was proposed here: https://duck.co/ideas/idea/372/zero-click-info-for-bitcoin-addresses
 
The proposer suggested using blockchain.info, but as mentioned above, it has poor availability and reliability, and thus we implemented the solution with Chain.com’s API
 
**Which existing instant answers will this one supersede/overlap with?**
 
None
 
**Are you having any problems? Do you need our help with anything?**
 
No, we were very pleased with the process!!


##Checklist
Please place an 'X' where appropriate.

```
[x] Added metadata and attribution information
[x] Wrote test file and added to t/ directory
[x] Verified that instant answer adheres to design guidelines(https://github.com/duckduckgo/duckduckgo-documentation/blob/master/duckduckhack/styleguides/design_styleguide.md)
[x] Tested cross-browser compatibility

    Please let us know which browsers/devices you've tested on:
    - Windows 8 // Tested on Browserstack.com
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [y] Firefox         
        [y] Opera           
        [y] IE 10           

    - Windows 7 // Tested on Browserstack.com
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [y] Firefox         
        [y] Opera           
        [y] IE 8            
        [y] IE 9            
        [y] IE 10           

    - Windows XP // Tested on Browserstack.com
        [n!] IE 7 // Unable to test. Using Browserstack.com, DuckDuckGo itself would not render correctly. No spices would load at all.  
        [y] IE 8            

    - Mac OSX
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [y] Firefox         
        [y] Opera           
        [y] Safari          

    - iOS (iPhone) // Tested on iPhone 5s
        [y] Safari Mobile   
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [n!] Opera //Unable to connect locally with Browserstack       

    - iOS (iPad) // Tested on iPad Air
        [y] Safari Mobile   
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [n!] Opera // Unable to connect locally with Browserstack         

    - Android // Tested on HTC One
        [y] Firefox         
        [y] Native Browser  
        [y] Google Chrome   
        [y] Opera
```