With exchange rates seeing steady growth, investors are increasingly interested in putting their money on cryptocurrencies. This is because they believe their investment will pay off massively over the long term. As a result, more and more people want to dive into the world of digital currency.
Before putting up your hard-earned money, however, you need a clear understanding of cryptocurrency exchange rates. You don’t want to invest in a business you don’t understand. That is why, to help you along, here is a beginner’s guide to cryptocurrency exchange rates and an exchange rates api.
Table of Contents
What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are digital money based on blockchain. They can be stored in digital wallets. You can use them to buy products or services. You can also send them to your friends.
Cryptocurrencies use strong cryptography to secure transaction records. They use blockchain to organize and record transactions across multiple devices. In addition, they are maintained using a distributed ledger which makes the whole process transparent. Some cryptocurrencies also strengthen anonymity through encryption. Most importantly, however, cryptocurrencies can exist without being controlled by governments or other central authorities. This is thanks to the decentralized nature of blockchain technology.
Right now, there are over 13,000 publicly traded cryptocurrencies. The most popular cryptos are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Tether (USDT), as well as Cardano (ADA).
What are cryptocurrency exchange rates?
A cryptocurrency exchange rate is simply the price of digital coins converted to physical currencies like the US Dollar or Euro. For example, if you want to buy a Bitcoin, you have to spend at least 61,294 USD dollars. This means $61,294 is the cryptocurrency exchange rate for Bitcoin.
Why does the cryptocurrency exchange rate matter?
It’s pretty simple. If you are trading cryptocurrencies, you always want to purchase them at the best rate. The cryptocurrency exchange rate helps you determine whether you should sell or hold onto an asset. For example, people who invested in altcoin a long time ago managed to earn a massive gain in 2019. At that time, exchange rates reached some of their highest peaks. That is why many investors decided to sell their altcoins in 2019.
What is a Cryptocurrency Exchange Rate API?
A cryptocurrency exchange rate API is a service that allows you to interface with digital money exchange rates. Cryptocurrency exchange rate APIs also allow you to pull and receive the data in real-time. This makes it easy for you to show accurate rates in your applications.
What is the best Cryptocurrency Exchange Rate API?
The best cryptocurrency exchange rate API is coinlayer. It is a real-time API that supports over 385 cryptocurrencies. It is lightweight and super-fast. If you want to easily integrate cryptocurrency exchange rates into your application, coinlayer is the right choice for you.
Why is Coinlayer the best cryptocurrency exchange rate API?
coinlayer is one of the top APIs out there because it
- provides highly accurate data
- supports historical data from 2011
- delivers data in milliseconds
- offers bank-grade security through 256-bit encryption
- integrates very easily
- supports easy-to-follow documentation
- provides dedicated customer support
How can coinlayer make your life easier?
coinlayer makes your life easier by helping you effortlessly display cryptocurrency exchange rates in your applications. Simply put, it is very easy to use and takes only a few minutes to implement. The exchange rates provided by Coinlayer are also highly accurate. In addition, coinlayer only collects data from reliable sources. This means your users will never complain about inaccurate information. They will always get accurate cryptocurrency exchange rates in real-time.
How can you integrate coinlayer with your application?
Integrating coinlayer is simple. If you are using JavaScript, just follow these simple steps:
How to Get Real-Time Cryptocurrency Exchange Rates
1. First, you need to set an endpoint. You also need to set the API access key, which you can get by simply signing up with coinlayer.
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endpoint = 'live' access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; |
2. Next, you have to get the most recent exchange rates using the “live” endpoint.
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$.ajax({ url: 'https://api.coinlayer.com/api/' + endpoint + '?access_key=' + access_key, dataType: 'jsonp', success: function(json) { // exchange rata data is stored in json.rates alert(json.rates.BTC); // target currency is stored in json.target alert(json.target); // timestamp can be accessed in json.timestamp alert(json.timestamp); } }); |
Source Code:
You can view the source code right here.
How to Convert Cryptocurrency to Regular Currency
1. Firstly, set your endpoint and API access key.
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endpoint = 'convert'; access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; |
2. Next, you have to define the cryptocurrency that you want to convert to regular currency. In this example, we are converting BTC to GBP. After that, you also have to specify an amount.
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from = 'BTC'; to = 'GBP'; amount = '10'; |
3. Now, you can execute the conversion using the “convert” endpoint.
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// execute the conversion using the "convert" endpoint: $.ajax({ url: 'https://api.coinlayer.com/api/' + endpoint + '?access_key=' + access_key +'&from=' + from + '&to=' + to + '&amount=' + amount, dataType: 'jsonp', success: function(json) { // access the conversion result in json.result alert(json.result); } }); |
Source Code:
You can get the source code from here.
That’s how you use the coinlayer API in your application to show and convert cryptocurrency exchange rates. As you can see, the whole process is very simple. Most importantly, you don’t need to write a lot of code.
Should you use Coinlayer API with your application?
coinlayer API is the best cryptocurrency exchange rate API that you can find right now. That is because it is lightweight and blazing fast. It also offers bank-grade security. Most important of all, however, the coinlayer API provides highly accurate cryptocurrency exchange rates from reliable sources. Give it a try and find out for yourself.
