CoinMarketCap API
Overview
CoinMarketCap provides the most widely referenced cryptocurrency market data, covering 9,000+ coins with prices, rankings, market caps, and OHLCV history. The free Basic plan allows 10,000 credits per month and covers essential price-lookup endpoints — enough to build portfolio trackers and price widgets. Data is normalized and battle-tested, powering finance apps used by millions.
Beginner Tip
Register for a free API key at pro.coinmarketcap.com and pass it as the X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY header — the /v1/cryptocurrency/listings/latest endpoint returns the top 100 coins ranked by market cap with a single call.
Available Data
Example Response
{
"id": "bitcoin",
"symbol": "btc",
"current_price": 65432.1,
"market_cap": 1280000000000,
"price_change_24h": 1250.5,
"price_change_percentage_24h": 1.95,
"total_volume": 28500000000
} Field Reference
data.<SYMBOL>.id CoinMarketCap unique numeric ID for the cryptocurrency. data.<SYMBOL>.name Full name of the cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin). data.<SYMBOL>.quote.USD.price Current price in the requested convert currency. data.<SYMBOL>.quote.USD.percent_change_24h Percentage price change over the last 24 hours. data.<SYMBOL>.quote.USD.market_cap Market capitalization in USD. status.credit_count Number of API credits consumed by this request. Implementation Example
// Get latest cryptocurrency listings
const url = "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/v1/cryptocurrency/listings/latest";
const response = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(`Total cryptocurrencies: ${data.status.total_count}`);
data.data.slice(0, 5).forEach(coin => {
console.log(`${coin.name} (${coin.symbol}): $${coin.quote.USD.price.toFixed(2)} | Market Cap: $${(coin.quote.USD.market_cap / 1e9).toFixed(2)}B`);
}); What Can You Build?
Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.
Common Errors & Troubleshooting
Matrix Score Breakdown
Partially tested on Apr 5, 2026
Technical Specifications
Related Tags
Alternatives to CoinMarketCap
Technical alternatives for different use cases.
More generous free tier with DeFi and NFT data
Free crypto data access with DeFi coverage
Industry recognition and CMC-specific rankings
Free crypto market data with exchange listings
Free API without rate limit restrictions
Historical data depth and global metrics
Social data and mining profitability alongside prices
Crypto social sentiment and mining data
Market cap rankings and listing coverage
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