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- Best Crypto APIs: list of the best APIs for cryptocurrency traders and devs
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Best Cryptocurrency APIs
If you’re looking to automate your crypto trading and research operations, it can be hard to figure out where to start.
Some crypto APIs provide multiple functionalities, which means you can get more use out of them. But to work better and faster, it’s a good idea to combine multiple APIs for optimal performance in each of your tasks.
The thing is, there are hundreds of APIs available on the internet – each one with its own strengths and weaknesses – how do you choose?
Well, that’s why we’ve compiled this list for you.
Here, you’ll find a comprehensive list of cryptocurrency APIs – each one built for simplifying your crypto tasks, saving you time and most importantly money.
We’ve segmented this list into different categories based on what you want to achieve:
- Buy/sell/send
- Manage bitcoin wallets
- Track current exchange rates
- Access full nodes & block explorers
- Find currency symbols
- Get historical data
In each category, you’ll see a list of our API recommendations which you can use to achieve the corresponding task. At the end, we’ll introduce you to the various APIs in this list and explain why we chose them.
Buy, Sell, or Send
If you’re looking for an exchange API for trading crypto, your primary criteria should be stability/uptime, cost, trading features, and customer service. And based on those criteria, there are 2 exchanges that stand out:
These exchanges are much less popular compared to giants like Coinbase or Binance, but the trade-off is amazing.
Not only are these exchanges cheaper, but they’re also more secure and stable.
Both Coinbase and Binance have experienced a multitude of problems throughout their time – severe customer service lapses, unexplained downtime, vague user agreements – the works. People have lost millions of dollars because of these issues.
If you’re a day trader (or any type of trader, really), issues like these are unacceptable, and it’s in your best interest to look for something better. After all, it’s your money on the line.
That’s why we recommend using Gemini’s and Kraken’s APIs for buying, selling, and sending crypto.
In addition to the well-known exchanges mentioned above, there’s also many smaller exchanges that also have an API such as Kucoin, SimpleSwap, and Gate.io. Click here to see a list of all exchanges.
Related article: Trading crypto from Google Sheets – how to place a buy order from Google Sheets to the Bitmex API
Manage Bitcoin Wallets
If you’re looking for an API to help you manage your Bitcoin wallet, many crypto exchanges offer that exact functionality. We recommend using these 3:
Gemini makes it into yet another category on this list, but for good reason. Not only is it a secure platform for trading crypto, it also gives you plenty of flexibility with what you can do with your wallet. Gemini also provides digital asset insurance, which protects you from things like security breach or hack, a fraudulent transfer, or employee theft.
Blockchain is a great option as well. Unlike Gemini, you can’t use Blockchain to trade cryptocurrencies. However, it does provide great functionality when it comes to wallet management, such as sending and receiving bitcoin payments, fetching wallet balance, listing addresses, and more. Use Blockchain instead of Gemini if you’re not interested in trading crypto.
Get Latest & Historic Exchange Rates
For avid crypto traders (and hodlers looking to do their homework before diving into a coin), it’s important to get the most data as frequently as possible for the cheapest price.
The best APIs for getting current/historic exchange rates tend to be pricey. But, if you look hard enough, you can get the data at a huge discount.
Here’s what we recommend:
These APIs are all great for collecting the high-quality, tick-by-tick data you need to trade in real-time as well as backtest your strategies against historical market data. You can also try popular market data APIs like CoinAPI or CoinMarketCap, but we’ve found these ones to be the most robust.
Network Explorer & Node API
NOWNodes is a blockchain-as-a-service that provides cryptocurrency enthusiasts and developers with reliable access to blockchain explorers and full nodes. The service has a free plan for up to 20,000 requests per day.
It’s a cost-effective solution for any crypto entrepreneur that wants to maintain their own network, as the service allows you to connect to 45 blockchains in one place with one API key.
NOWNodes provides scalability for any large tasks and their service is monitored 24/7 for uptime.
Find Cryptocurrency Symbols
If all you need is to retrieve the symbols available for trading in an exchange, many of the APIs we mentioned above provide that exact functionality.
Here’s what we recommend:
CCXT is an amazing library that provides rich functionality for doing any kind of cryptocurrency automation, including retrieving crypto symbols. If you’re looking to build a bot, consider using it. If you already plan on using Gemini for any of the other tasks, Gemini lets you retrieve crypto symbols as well.
These APIs both have endpoints that give you a sorted list of string symbols – all arranged in a neat pile for anything you need to do.
Technical Analysis Indicators
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Our Crypto API Recommendations – and Why They’re Good
Gemini
Gemini is one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges out there. And it being based in the US only adds an extra layer of comfort since the platform is completely local. The user-friendly UI is great as well.
Gemini offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Buy/sell/send
- Manage bitcoin wallets
- Find currency symbols
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
If your main goal is to trade altcoins, perhaps look somewhere else. You can only trade 20+ of the most popular coins on the exchange. If, however, you’re more on the conservative side, Gemini’s coin offerings might be enough for you.
Some of Gemini’s APIs are private, but all you need to do to access them is create an account, log-in, and obtain your API keys. Here’s the official guide.
Kraken
Kraken is the most trusted cryptocurrency exchange on the market. Most of their digital assets are held safely in cold wallets, so they maintain a high level of security. And, if you ever have any questions or concerns, their customer support is available 24/7/365.
Kraken offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Buy/sell/send
- Manage bitcoin Wallets
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
- Find currency symbols
- And so much more…
Kraken’s API is super flexible and offers a TON of features. On the Kraken exchange, you can trade over 50+ coins. This is still less than Binance (which offers 150+ coins), but the stability and security is leagues better. If you’re not interested in trading anything other than the most popular coins, try Kraken.
CEX.IO
CEX.IO is a regulated crypto exchange founded in 2013 with over 4 million users worldwide. Their crypto trading and exchange API offers two options, websocket & REST.
Their websocket API allows you to:
- Access account balance
- Subscribe to order books
- View open orders, place new orders, cancel orders, and view order history
Their REST API allows you to:
- Receive real-time price feeds and access price charts
- View trade history and account balance
- View your open orders by pair and cancel orders
Their REST API is better for working with your trade orders and their WebSocket API is better for placing orders and getting market data. Getting started with the CEX.IO API is easy due to their extensive documentation.
Blockchain
Blockchain is a great resource for getting the things you need to automate your cryptocurrency operations. They have various APIs that let you receive bitcoin payments, collect exchange rate data, and more.
Blockchain offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Buy/sell/send
- Manage bitcoin Wallets
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
- Find currency symbols
- And so much more…
If you need it, Blockchain also offers a wallet service API that lets you programmatically interact with your wallet. They’ve been in the business since 2013, and over 68M people use their wallet service every day.
CCXT
CCXT is an open-source trading library that provides quick access to algorithmic trading functions and backtesting data for over 120 cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s intended for coders, developers, technically-skilled traders, data scientists, and financial analysts.
CCXT offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Buy/sell/send
- Manage bitcoin Wallets
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
- Find currency symbols
- And so much more…
CCXT is an actual powerhouse when it comes to crypto research and automation. There’s a pretty steep learning curve, but if you’ve got the fundamentals, you can do a lot.
It’s not the most powerful API for crypto trading (which is why it’s not listed in the trading category), but when you need to grab some quick data to look at, it’s very helpful.
BraveNewCoin
BraveNewCoin offers cloud-based cryptocurrency APIs for fast and reliable reference for real-time and historic crypto data from more than 200+ exchanges.
BraveNewCoin offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
- Find currency symbols
- And so much more…
BraveNewCoin has several APIs that you can use for various tasks. They’re also an amazing source of information for crypto events and news. If you’re looking for flexible APIs to help you with your crypto research, try out BraveNewCoin.
CoinGecko
CoinGecko is the world’s leading independent crypto data aggregator. They pride themselves in providing reliable and unbiased information and have been doing so since early 2014.
CoinGecko offers both public & private APIs that let you:
- Get latest & historic exchange rates
- Find currency symbols
- And so much more…
The best thing about the CoinGecko data market APIs is that they’re 100% free. They only deal with public data, so it isn’t necessary to sign up just to obtain API keys.
You can use any of their robust APIs to enhance existing apps and services or you can build an advanced crypto market app of your own. Their data is extensive and easy to implement, so definitely give it a try.
Import API data directly into Google Sheets
Do a lot of copy-pasting?
We used to, as well.
But it took up too much of our time.
Introducing Apipheny, a Google Sheets add-on that lets you import data directly into Google Sheets — and save up to an hour of your workday.
It lets you connect almost any API to Google Sheets — in just a matter of seconds.
This means you can now import data directly from your favorite data sources — and finally stop switching between tabs with your fingers stuck on Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.
Here’s Apipheny CEO & Co-Founder, Meelad, showing you just how easy it is to use the add-on.
Apipheny lets you do the following things:
- Skip the scripting & coding part of APIs.
- Retrieve and send data from your favorite data sources easily, using the GET & POST request feature.
- Access virtually any REST API, whether it’s JSON or CSV.
- Get the data you need in a nice, clean, list on your spreadsheet with the JSON converter.
- Save time by automating your API calls with the Save and Schedule features.
Just try it out. Trial’s free. No credit card needed.
Learn more about APIs by reading these next:
- What is an API?
- Google Sheets API Guide
- What is a GET Request?
- What is a POST Request?
- What is an API URL Path?
- What are API Parameters?
- What is an API Endpoint?
- What are API Headers?
- What is an API Key?