If you are working on a crypto app, and you want to retain your users, displaying the right exchange rates is very important. You don’t want to see people leaving your app due to inaccurate information. Thankfully there is a simple solution — using a reliable cryptocurrency exchange rate API to deliver highly accurate data. There are, however, many similar APIs available online. So how do you separate the best from the rest? What is the anatomy of a great cryptocurrency exchange rate API? In this post, you will find all the details.
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What is a cryptocurrency exchange rates API?
A cryptocurrency exchange rate API is a service that lets you pull and receive cryptocurrency data in real-time. They let you conveniently display digital money exchange rates in your app.
What are the characteristics of a great cryptocurrency exchange rates API?
- Super-fast: The best cryptocurrency exchange rates APIs provide all the data in milliseconds.
- Easy to Use: The best APIs are very easy to use. You can integrate them into your app within just a few minutes.
- Great documentation: Good APIs also have easy-to-follow documentation that is comprehensive and user-friendly.
- Highly secure: All the great APIs offer robust security features, like 256-bit encryption technology.
- Reliability: The best APIs provide highly accurate information. This means that your users always get the correct exchange rate in real-time.
What is the best cryptocurrency exchange rates API on the market?
Right now, the best cryptocurrency exchange rates API is coinlayer. It is a REST API that offers highly-accurate, real-time exchange rates for more than 385 cryptocurrencies. By using Coinlayer, you can instantly display exchange rates and unique insights in your app. It is also very fast — response times are as low as 20 milliseconds.
Why is coinlayer a great cryptocurrency exchange rates API?
Support for Extensive Cryptocurrency Database
coinlayer gives you access to the exchange rates of over 385 cryptocurrencies. It collects data from more than 25 exchanges.
Provides Historical Data
In addition to multiple currencies, coinlayer offers historical data from 2011. This means you can dive deeper into old data to get valuable insights into different cryptocurrencies.
Highly Reliable Data Sources
Next, coinlayer collects exchange rates from authoritative data sources. As a result, you get highly accurate rates for all cryptocurrencies.
Offers Robust Security
coinlayer provides bank-grade security. It offers industry-standard 256-bit HTTPS encryption. Hackers will have a very difficult time cracking its security.
Robust JSON API
Finally, coinlayer returns all cryptocurrency data in lightweight JSON format. It is backed by a solid and highly available cloud infrastructure. As a result, you receive data in milliseconds.
Can you integrate coinlayer easily into your web application?
coinlayer is very easy to use. It offers comprehensive documentation, which is very easy to follow. The integration process is very simple. You don’t have to write a lot of code. There is no complexity. coinlayer also supports all the popular languages, including PHP and JavaScript. Simply put, you can integrate coinlayer into your web application in just a few minutes.
How to Integrate Coinlayer into Your PHP Web Application
1. First, you need to find the coinlayer API key. You can get it from here for free.
2. Next, you have to set your API Endpoint and API key.
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$endpoint = 'live'; $access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; |
3. Then, you have to initialize CURL.
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$ch = curl_init('https://api.coinlayer.com/api/'.$endpoint.'?access_key='.$access_key.''); |
4. Now, you have to set an option for the cURL transfer.
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curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); |
5. Once you are done, you have to store the data.
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$json = curl_exec($ch); |
6. Next, you have to close the cURL session.
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curl_close($ch); |
7. Then you have to decode JSON response.
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$exchangeRates = json_decode($json, true); |
8. Now, you can access the exchange rate value of your preferred cryptocurrency. If you want to get the rate of Bitcoin, you need to use this line:
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echo $exchangeRates['rates']['BTC']; |
Overall, the code will look like this:
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// set API Endpoint and API key $endpoint = 'live'; $access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; // Initialize CURL: $ch = curl_init('https://api.coinlayer.com/api/'.$endpoint.'?access_key='.$access_key.''); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); // Store the data: $json = curl_exec($ch); curl_close($ch); // Decode JSON response: $exchangeRates = json_decode($json, true); // Access the exchange rate values, e.g. GBP: echo $exchangeRates['rates']['BTC']; |
Source Code:
You can view the source code right here.
That’s how you integrate coinlayer into your PHP application.
How to Integrate coinlayer into Your JavaScript Web Application
1. Set endpoint and API access key.
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endpoint = 'live' access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; |
2. Now, you have to create ajax() method to send asynchronous http requests to retrieve cryptocurrency exchange rates from the Coinlayer server.
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$.ajax({ url: 'https://api.coinlayer.com/api/' + endpoint + '?access_key=' + access_key, dataType: 'jsonp', |
3. If it’s a success, you can get access to the data of your preferred cryptocurrency, like BTC. To display the rate of Bitcoin, you have to use this code:
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success: function(json) { alert(json.rates.BTC); |
4. To display the target currency, you have to use this line:
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alert(json.target); |
5. To display the timestamp, you have to write this code:
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alert(json.timestamp); } }); |
Overall, the code will look like this:
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// set endpoint and your API access key endpoint = 'live' access_key = 'YOUR_ACCESS_KEY'; // get the most recent exchange rates via the "live" endpoint: $.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 get the source code from the documentation.
That’s it! You have learned to get cryptocurrency exchange rates using coinlayer. As you can see, the process is pretty simple. It involves writing only a few lines of code so it can save a lot of time and can boost your productivity.
What kind of information does coinlayer provide?
coinlayer provides different information related to your preferred cryptocurrency, like exchange rate, current market cap, supply amount, and more.
Let’s try to run this API request to get an idea of what information coinlayer can provide.
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https://api.coinlayer.com/live ? access_key = YOUR_ACCESS_KEY & expand = 1 |
You will get this API response:
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{ "success": true, "terms": "https://coinlayer.com/terms", "privacy": "https://coinlayer.com/privacy", "timestamp": 1529836865, "target": "USD", "rates": { "BTC": { "rate": 5948.023376, "high": 6499.89998, "low": 5657, "vol": 3665680000, "cap": 101785026595.74292, "sup": 17112412, }, "ETH": { "rate": 449.864211, "high": 500, "low": 432.547195, "vol": 1918470000, "cap": 45109034289.89332, "sup": 100272556, }, [...] } } |
As you can see, coinlayer provides you with a variety of information. This includes the exchange rate and current market cap of your cryptocurrencies. It has also revealed the highest and lowest midpoint exchange rate recorded on the requested date. In addition, it returns the current supply amount of your cryptocurrencies.
Documentation: Is it easy to follow?
coinlayer’s documentation is very easy to understand. This means you don’t have to spend hours reading it. You can comprehend everything quickly. Nor do you have to scour Google to find the answer you are looking for. The documentation explains everything in detail. Finally, it provides code examples in different languages, including PHP and JavaScript. By following them, you can quickly integrate coinlayer into your web application.
Pricing: How much does coinlayer cost?
coinlayer is available in different plans. It offers a free package that allows you to make 500 requests per month. However, the support is limited. If you want premium support, you need to subscribe to the $9.99 Basic plan. It allows you to make 5000 requests every month. But it doesn’t support the Time-Frame Endpoint. If you need that specific feature, you will have to get the $39.99 Professional plan. It supports up to 30,000 requests per month. If you need even more flexibility, you can take the $79.99 Professional Plus plan. It allows you to make 100,000 requests every month. It is also the only plan that supports the 60-second data update feature.
Is coinlayer the best cryptocurrency exchange rates API on the market?
coinlayer allows you to effortlessly display cryptocurrency exchange rates in your applications. It is very easy to integrate. You don’t have to write a lot of code. It is also super-fast. Finally, it supports bank-grade security and has easy-to-follow documentation. That makes coinlayer the best cryptocurrency exchange rates API that you can find online.
