diff --git a/bigchaindb/__init__.py b/bigchaindb/__init__.py
index 3c94ca38..43278269 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/__init__.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/__init__.py
@@ -37,4 +37,4 @@ config = {
 # for more info.
 _config = copy.deepcopy(config)
 from bigchaindb.core import Bigchain  # noqa
-
+from bigchaindb.version import __version__  # noqa
diff --git a/bigchaindb/block.py b/bigchaindb/block.py
index 96da9207..2c2e108e 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/block.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/block.py
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ from bigchaindb.monitor import Monitor
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-monitor = Monitor()
-
 
 class Block(object):
 
@@ -27,6 +25,7 @@ class Block(object):
         self.q_tx_delete = mp.Queue()
         self.q_block = mp.Queue()
         self.initialized = mp.Event()
+        self.monitor = Monitor()
 
     def filter_by_assignee(self):
         """
@@ -57,7 +56,9 @@ class Block(object):
         b = Bigchain()
 
         while True:
-            monitor.gauge('tx_queue_gauge', self.q_tx_to_validate.qsize(), rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate'])
+            self.monitor.gauge('tx_queue_gauge',
+                               self.q_tx_to_validate.qsize(),
+                               rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate'])
             tx = self.q_tx_to_validate.get()
 
             # poison pill
@@ -67,7 +68,11 @@ class Block(object):
                 return
 
             self.q_tx_delete.put(tx['id'])
-            if b.is_valid_transaction(tx):
+
+            with self.monitor.timer('validate_transaction', rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate']):
+                is_valid_transaction = b.is_valid_transaction(tx)
+
+            if is_valid_transaction:
                 self.q_tx_validated.put(tx)
 
     def create_blocks(self):
@@ -122,7 +127,8 @@ class Block(object):
             if block == 'stop':
                 return
 
-            b.write_block(block)
+            with self.monitor.timer('write_block'):
+                b.write_block(block)
 
     def delete_transactions(self):
         """
diff --git a/bigchaindb/client.py b/bigchaindb/client.py
index 67ce51a9..fcf1a7f8 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/client.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/client.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import requests
 
 import bigchaindb
-from bigchaindb import util
 from bigchaindb import config_utils
 from bigchaindb import exceptions
 from bigchaindb import crypto
@@ -112,5 +111,5 @@ def temp_client():
     """
 
     private_key, public_key = crypto.generate_key_pair()
-    return Client(private_key=private_key, public_key=public_key, api_endpoint='http://localhost:5000/api/v1')
+    return Client(private_key=private_key, public_key=public_key, api_endpoint=bigchaindb.config['api_endpoint'])
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain_benchmark.py b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain_benchmark.py
index 177f0934..9c0edc63 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain_benchmark.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/bigchain_benchmark.py
@@ -8,23 +8,21 @@ import logstats
 import bigchaindb
 import bigchaindb.config_utils
 from bigchaindb.util import ProcessGroup
+from bigchaindb.client import temp_client
 from bigchaindb.commands.utils import base_parser, start
 
 
 logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-USER_PUBLIC_KEY = 'qZAN9Ngs1v4qP1T5UBYw75M5f2ej7mAJx8gBMF4BBWtZ'
-
 
 def _run_load(tx_left, stats):
     logstats.thread.start(stats)
-    b = bigchaindb.Bigchain()
+    client = temp_client()
+    # b = bigchaindb.Bigchain()
 
     while True:
-        tx = b.create_transaction(b.me, USER_PUBLIC_KEY, None, 'CREATE')
-        tx_signed = b.sign_transaction(tx, b.me_private)
-        b.write_transaction(tx_signed)
+        tx = client.create()
 
         stats['transactions'] += 1
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py b/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
index 31d4a46d..c23b25ec 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/commands/utils.py
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ for ``argparse.ArgumentParser``.
 import argparse
 import multiprocessing as mp
 
+from bigchaindb.version import __version__
+
 
 def start(parser, scope):
     """Utility function to execute a subcommand.
@@ -46,7 +48,7 @@ def start(parser, scope):
     func(args)
 
 
-base_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False)
+base_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False, prog='bigchaindb')
 
 base_parser.add_argument('-c', '--config',
                          help='Specify the location of the configuration file')
@@ -55,3 +57,7 @@ base_parser.add_argument('-y', '--yes', '--yes-please',
                          action='store_true',
                          help='Assume "yes" as answer to all prompts and run '
                               'non-interactively')
+
+base_parser.add_argument('-v', '--version',
+                         action='version',
+                         version='%(prog)s {}'.format(__version__))
diff --git a/bigchaindb/config_utils.py b/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
index 98be7fc9..3ec17656 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/config_utils.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ from pkg_resources import iter_entry_points, ResolutionError
 import bigchaindb
 from bigchaindb.consensus import AbstractConsensusRules
 
+# TODO: move this to a proper configuration file for logging
+logging.getLogger('requests').setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 CONFIG_DEFAULT_PATH = os.environ.setdefault(
diff --git a/bigchaindb/core.py b/bigchaindb/core.py
index 477fab9b..e8d30855 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/core.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/core.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import rethinkdb as r
 import random
+
+import rethinkdb as r
 import rapidjson
 
 import bigchaindb
@@ -7,9 +8,6 @@ from bigchaindb import util
 from bigchaindb import config_utils
 from bigchaindb import exceptions
 from bigchaindb import crypto
-from bigchaindb.monitor import Monitor
-
-monitor = Monitor()
 
 
 class GenesisBlockAlreadyExistsError(Exception):
@@ -66,7 +64,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
     def reconnect(self):
         return r.connect(host=self.host, port=self.port, db=self.dbname)
 
-    @monitor.timer('create_transaction', rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate'])
     def create_transaction(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """Create a new transaction
 
@@ -102,7 +99,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         return self.consensus.verify_signature(
             signed_transaction, *args, **kwargs)
 
-    @monitor.timer('write_transaction', rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate'])
     def write_transaction(self, signed_transaction, durability='soft'):
         """Write the transaction to bigchain.
 
@@ -248,7 +244,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
 
         return owned
 
-    @monitor.timer('validate_transaction', rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate'])
     def validate_transaction(self, transaction):
         """Validate a transaction.
 
@@ -317,7 +312,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
 
         return block
 
-    @monitor.timer('validate_block')
     # TODO: check that the votings structure is correctly constructed
     def validate_block(self, block):
         """Validate a block.
@@ -360,7 +354,6 @@ class Bigchain(object):
         except Exception:
             return False
 
-    @monitor.timer('write_block')
     def write_block(self, block, durability='soft'):
         """Write a block to bigchain.
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/monitor.py b/bigchaindb/monitor.py
index 9094fea3..3c14da1e 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/monitor.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/monitor.py
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
-import statsd
 from platform import node
 
+import statsd
+
 import bigchaindb
 from bigchaindb import config_utils
 
-class Monitor(statsd.StatsClient):
-    """Set up statsd monitoring
 
-    """
+class Monitor(statsd.StatsClient):
+    """Set up statsd monitoring."""
+
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """Overrides statsd client, fixing prefix to messages and loading configuration
 
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ class Monitor(statsd.StatsClient):
             *args: arguments (identical to Statsclient)
             **kwargs: keyword arguments (identical to Statsclient)
         """
+
         config_utils.autoconfigure()
 
         if not kwargs:
@@ -28,3 +30,4 @@ class Monitor(statsd.StatsClient):
         if 'port' not in kwargs:
             kwargs['port'] = bigchaindb.config['statsd']['port']
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+
diff --git a/bigchaindb/version.py b/bigchaindb/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8902322a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bigchaindb/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+__version__ = '0.1.5'
+__short_version__ = '0.1'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bigchaindb/voter.py b/bigchaindb/voter.py
index 3ed73636..9a34c0d8 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/voter.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/voter.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import multiprocessing as mp
 import ctypes
 
 from bigchaindb import Bigchain
+from bigchaindb.monitor import Monitor
 
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -56,6 +57,9 @@ class Voter(object):
 
         Initialize with a queue where new blocks added to the bigchain will be put
         """
+
+        self.monitor = Monitor()
+
         self.q_new_block = q_new_block
         self.q_blocks_to_validate = mp.Queue()
         self.q_validated_block = mp.Queue()
@@ -102,7 +106,9 @@ class Voter(object):
 
             logger.info('new_block arrived to voter')
             block_number = self.v_previous_block_number.value + 1
-            validity = b.is_valid_block(new_block)
+
+            with self.monitor.timer('validate_block'):
+                validity = b.is_valid_block(new_block)
 
             self.q_validated_block.put((new_block,
                                         self.v_previous_block_id.value.decode(),
diff --git a/bigchaindb/web/server.py b/bigchaindb/web/server.py
index 3e26a007..e557bbd0 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/web/server.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/web/server.py
@@ -7,11 +7,12 @@ import copy
 import multiprocessing
 
 from flask import Flask
+import gunicorn.app.base
 
 from bigchaindb import util
 from bigchaindb import Bigchain
 from bigchaindb.web import views
-import gunicorn.app.base
+from bigchaindb.monitor import Monitor
 
 
 class StandaloneApplication(gunicorn.app.base.BaseApplication):
@@ -55,8 +56,12 @@ def create_app(settings):
     """
 
     app = Flask(__name__)
+
     app.debug = settings.get('debug', False)
+
     app.config['bigchain_pool'] = util.pool(Bigchain, size=settings.get('threads', 4))
+    app.config['monitor'] = Monitor()
+
     app.register_blueprint(views.basic_views, url_prefix='/api/v1')
     return app
 
diff --git a/bigchaindb/web/views.py b/bigchaindb/web/views.py
index cf618fff..f7a14078 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/web/views.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/web/views.py
@@ -7,20 +7,33 @@ For more information please refer to the documentation in Apiary:
 import flask
 from flask import current_app, request, Blueprint
 
+import bigchaindb
 from bigchaindb import util
 
 
 basic_views = Blueprint('basic_views', __name__)
 
 
+# Unfortunately I cannot find a reference to this decorator.
+# This answer on SO is quite useful tho:
+# - http://stackoverflow.com/a/13432373/597097
 @basic_views.record
-def get_bigchain(state):
+def record(state):
+    """This function checks if the blueprint can be initialized
+    with the provided state."""
+
     bigchain_pool = state.app.config.get('bigchain_pool')
+    monitor = state.app.config.get('monitor')
 
     if bigchain_pool is None:
         raise Exception('This blueprint expects you to provide '
                         'a pool of Bigchain instances called `bigchain_pool`')
 
+    if monitor is None:
+        raise ValueError('This blueprint expects you to provide '
+                         'a monitor instance to record system '
+                         'performance.')
+
 
 @basic_views.route('/transactions/<tx_id>')
 def get_transaction(tx_id):
@@ -49,6 +62,7 @@ def create_transaction():
         A JSON string containing the data about the transaction.
     """
     pool = current_app.config['bigchain_pool']
+    monitor = current_app.config['monitor']
 
     val = {}
 
@@ -64,7 +78,8 @@ def create_transaction():
         if not bigchain.consensus.verify_signature(tx):
             val['error'] = 'Invalid transaction signature'
 
-        val = bigchain.write_transaction(tx)
+        with monitor.timer('write_transaction', rate=bigchaindb.config['statsd']['rate']):
+            val = bigchain.write_transaction(tx)
 
     return flask.jsonify(**tx)
 
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 911c4673..be078160 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ from recommonmark.parser import CommonMarkParser
 # ones.
 import sphinx_rtd_theme
 
+# get version
+_version = {}
+with open('../../bigchaindb/version.py') as fp:
+    exec(fp.read(), _version)
+
 
 extensions = [
     'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
@@ -69,9 +74,9 @@ author = 'BigchainDB Contributors'
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '0.1'
+version = _version['__short_version__']
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '0.1.5'
+release = _version['__version__']
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index f7b1466b..053e0fa8 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ For full docs visit https://bigchaindb.readthedocs.org
 """
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
+# get the version
+version = {}
+with open('bigchaindb/version.py') as fp:
+    exec(fp.read(), version)
+
 tests_require = [
     'pytest',
     'coverage',
@@ -32,7 +37,7 @@ docs_require = [
 
 setup(
     name='BigchainDB',
-    version='0.1.5',
+    version=version['__version__'],
     description='BigchainDB: A Scalable Blockchain Database',
     long_description=__doc__,
     url='https://github.com/BigchainDB/bigchaindb/',
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index d2b5ed5f..92c5b7fd 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from unittest.mock import patch, call
 import pytest
 import queue
 
@@ -120,3 +121,24 @@ def test_pool_raises_empty_exception_when_timeout(mock_queue):
         with pool() as instance:
             assert instance == 'hello'
 
+
+@patch('multiprocessing.Process')
+def test_process_group_instantiates_and_start_processes(mock_process):
+    from bigchaindb.util import ProcessGroup
+
+    def noop():
+        pass
+
+    concurrency = 10
+
+    pg = ProcessGroup(concurrency=concurrency, group='test_group', target=noop)
+    pg.start()
+
+    mock_process.assert_has_calls([call(group='test_group', target=noop,
+                                        name=None, args=(), kwargs={},
+                                        daemon=None)
+                                  for i in range(concurrency)], any_order=True)
+
+    for process in pg.processes:
+        process.start.assert_called_with()
+