Bitcoin (or any other asset) price for your RPi Zero

• Raspberry Pi Zero W
• Raspberry Pi 3b+
• Raspberry Pi 4
• Any other modern RPi

• Waveshare eInk types:
  • epd2in13v2
  • epd2in13v3
  • epd2in13bv3
  • epd2in7
  • epd3in7
• inkyWhat (Red, Black, White)
• Virtual (picture)

1. Turn on SPI via sudo raspi-config

   Interfacing Options -> SPI
   

2. Install dependencies

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt-get install python3-pip python3-numpy git
   pip3 install RPi.GPIO spidev pillow
   

3. Install drivers for your display (you don't need to install both)

   1. If you have a Waveshare display

   git clone https://github.com/waveshare/e-Paper.git ~/e-Paper
   pip3 install ~/e-Paper/RaspberryPi_JetsonNano/python/
   

   1. If you have an Inky wHAT display

   pip3 install inky[rpi]
   

4. Download Zero BTC Screen

   git clone https://github.com/dr-mod/zero-btc-screen.git ~/zero-btc-screen
   

5. Run it

   python3 ~/zero-btc-screen/main.py
   

The application supports multiple types of e-ink screens, and an additional "picture" screen.

To configure which display(s) to use, configuration.cfg should be modified. In the following example an e-ink epd2in13v2 and "picture" screens are select:

[base]
console_logs             : false
#logs_file               : /tmp/zero-btc-screen.log
dummy_data               : false
refresh_interval_minutes : 15
# Data API base URL (must serve /products/{ticker}/candles like Coinbase)
data_api_base_url        : https://api.exchange.coinbase.com
# Price pair from Coinbase (BTC-EUR, ADA-GBP) or a stock/ETF ticker from your API
ticker                   : BTC-USD
# Optional label shown on the screen (defaults to first part of ticker)
#ticker_label            : BTC

# Enabled screens or devices
screens : [
    epd2in13v2
#    epd2in13v3
#    epd2in13bv3
#    epd2in7
#    epd3in7
    picture
#    inkyWhatRBW
  ]

# Configuration per screen
# This doesn't make any effect if screens are not enabled above
[epd2in13v2]
mode : candle

[epd2in13v3]
mode : candle

[epd2in13bv3]
mode : line

[epd2in7]
mode : candle

[epd3in7]
mode : candle

[picture]
filename : /home/pi/output.png

[inkyWhatRBW]
mode : candle

To use arbitrary stock or ETF tickers, host a small service that matches Coinbase's /products/{ticker}/candles response format. The endpoint should return a JSON array of arrays:

[
  [time, low, high, open, close, volume],
  ...
]

Configure data_api_base_url to point to your service and set ticker to the symbol you want to display.

This repo includes finnhub_candles.php, a small proxy that translates Finnhub candles into the Coinbase /products/{ticker}/candles format. Deploy it on your hosting and point data_api_base_url to the host:

https://your-host.example.com

Example request:

https://your-host.example.com/products/AAPL/candles?granularity=900&start=2024-01-01T00:00&end=2024-01-02T00:00&token=YOUR_FINNHUB_KEY

The script accepts the Finnhub API token via token=..., the X-Finnhub-Token header, or the FINNHUB_TOKEN environment variable.

To make it run on startup you can choose from 2 options:

1. Using the rc.local file
   1. sudo nano /etc/rc.local
   2. Add one the following before exit 0

   /usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/zero-btc-screen/main.py &
   

   conversely, you can run in screen you can install it with sudo apt-get install screen

   su - pi -c "/usr/bin/screen -dm sh -c '/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/zero-btc-screen/main.py'"
   

2. Using the system's services daemon

   1. Create a new service configuration file

       sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/btc-screen.service
      

   2. Copy and paste the following into the service configuration file and change any settings to match your environment

       [Unit]
       Description=zero-btc-screen
       After=network.target
      
       [Service]
       ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 -u main.py
       WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/zero-btc-screen
       StandardOutput=inherit
       StandardError=inherit
       Restart=always
       User=pi
      
       [Install]
       WantedBy=multi-user.target
      

   3. Enable the service so that it starts whenever the RPi is rebooted

       sudo systemctl enable btc-screen.service
      

   4. Start the service and enjoy!

       sudo systemctl start btc-screen.service
      

      If you need to troubleshoot you can use the logging configurations of this program (mentioned below). Alternatively, you can check to see if there is any output in the system service logging.

       sudo journalctl -f -u btc-screen.service
      

If you would like to support this project and and keep me caffeinated, you can do it here: