Copy page

Start Here

Keyless Public API

For the complete CoinMarketCap API documentation index, see llms.txt. For a single-file dump of all documentation, see llms-full.txt.

Start using CoinMarketCap data instantly - no API key, no signup, no headers. Send a request, get JSON back. The Keyless Public API gets authoritative crypto market data into a script, an agent, or a prototype in seconds, with no account, key management, or credit system to deal with.

It serves real-time and historical data - prices, market cap, OHLCV, DEX pairs, token security, and CMC's proprietary indices - over plain HTTP, and it's the same data that powers coinmarketcap.com: aggregated across 947+ exchanges and 51M+ tracked assets with 14 years of history.

Code
# Simple Price takes CoinMarketCap IDs (1 = BTC, 1027 = ETH) - look IDs up via /v1/cryptocurrency/map
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/simple/price?ids=1,1027&convert=USD"

No headers, no auth - just send a request.

Quick start (no key)

Python, standard library only - runs as-is, nothing to fill in:

Code
import urllib.request, urllib.parse, json
base = "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api"
qs = urllib.parse.urlencode({"ids": "1,1027", "convert": "USD"})  # 1 = BTC, 1027 = ETH
url = f"{base}/v1/simple/price?{qs}"
req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers={"Accept": "application/json"})
data = json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=10))
print(data)

Node, no dependencies:

Code
const base = "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api";
const res = await fetch(`${base}/v1/simple/price?ids=1,1027&convert=USD`); // 1 = BTC, 1027 = ETH
console.log(await res.json());

Base URL

Code
https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api

Prefix any supported endpoint path with /public-api and the request is accepted with no key. One base URL covers both CEX market data and on-chain DEX data - same host, same JSON envelope, no second root to route to.

Use the keyless root, not the keyed root:

• ❌ https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/v1/simple/price (requires an API key)
• ✅ https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/simple/price (no key)

Do not send an X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY header on keyless calls - it isn't needed. Keyless endpoints accept GET only and return the exact same JSON envelope, standards and conventions, and error format as the keyed Pro API.

Rate limits

Keyless requests share an IP-based rate pool that keeps the public endpoint fast and stable for everyone.

• If you ever see a 429 Too Many Requests, back off and retry with exponential backoff - a brief wait clears it.
• A free API key (below) gives you your own much higher rate limits, plus the full Pro and DEX catalog.

A minimal backoff that keeps a polling script running smoothly:

Code
import time, urllib.request, json
def get(url, tries=5):
    for i in range(tries):
        try:
            req = urllib.request.Request(url, headers={"Accept": "application/json"})
            return json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=10))
        except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
            if e.code == 429 and i < tries - 1:
                time.sleep(2 ** i)   # 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s...
                continue
            raise

Want higher limits or more endpoints? Add a key

Keyless calls run the same way at any scale. When you want higher rate limits or the full Pro and DEX catalog, add a free API key - the response shape is identical, so there's nothing to rewrite. Two edits:

1. Remove /public-api from the base path.
2. Add your API key as the X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY header.

Code
# Keyless:
base    = "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api"
headers = {"Accept": "application/json"}

# With a key - same response shape, higher limits, full endpoint set:
base    = "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com"
headers = {"Accept": "application/json", "X-CMC_PRO_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY"}

A free API key (no credit card) raises the rate limits and unlocks the full Pro and DEX catalog - same endpoints, same envelope, nothing to rewrite.

Common tasks

Each runs keyless with the base URL above.

Current price of one or more coins (by CoinMarketCap ID - resolve symbols via /v1/cryptocurrency/map)

Code
# 1 = BTC, 1027 = ETH, 5426 = SOL
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/simple/price?ids=1,1027,5426&convert=USD"

Top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v3/cryptocurrency/listings/latest?start=1&limit=100&convert=USD"

Total crypto market cap and global metrics

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/global-metrics/quotes/latest?convert=USD"

Crypto Fear and Greed Index (CMC proprietary)

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v3/fear-and-greed/latest"

CMC100 index (CMC proprietary)

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v3/index/cmc100-latest"

DEX pair price by pool

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v4/dex/pairs/quotes/latest?network_id=1&contract_address=POOL_ADDRESS"

Token detail / market cap / liquidity by contract address

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/dex/token?platform=ethereum&address=TOKEN_ADDRESS"

DEX OHLCV / K-line candles (see the K-line candles reference for the full parameter list)

Code
curl "https://pro-api.coinmarketcap.com/public-api/v1/k-line/candles?platform=ethereum&address=POOL_ADDRESS&interval=1h"

Why this data

Things you can get keyless here that are hard or impossible to get elsewhere without paying:

• CMC proprietary indices - Fear and Greed (latest + historical), CMC100 and CMC20 (latest + historical), and the Altcoin Season Index. CoinMarketCap originals, available with no key.
• First-party canonical reference data - the authoritative CoinMarketCap ID maps for cryptocurrencies and exchanges, plus full metadata, so IDs resolve against the same source coinmarketcap.com uses.
• CEX and DEX in one API - token detail, price, liquidity, pools, holders, security checks, swap history, and K-line candles, alongside CEX market data, under a single base URL and a single envelope. No second host, no separate onchain product to learn.
• Same shape, no rewrite - the keyless response has the same structure as the keyed Pro API, so moving to production never breaks your parsing.

Available endpoints

18 Standard API and 17 DEX endpoints, keyless. The full keyed catalog is larger - a free key unlocks it.

Standard API

Endpoint	Description
/v1/simple/price	Simple Price
/v3/cryptocurrency/quotes/latest	Cryptocurrency Quotes Latest
/v3/cryptocurrency/listings/latest	Cryptocurrency Listings
/v2/cryptocurrency/info	Cryptocurrency Metadata
/v1/cryptocurrency/map	CoinMarketCap Cryptocurrency ID Map
/v1/cryptocurrency/categories	Categories
/v1/cryptocurrency/category	Category
/v1/global-metrics/quotes/latest	Global Metrics Latest
/v2/tools/price-conversion	Price Conversion
/v1/exchange/map	CoinMarketCap Exchange ID Map
/v3/fear-and-greed/latest	CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Latest
/v3/fear-and-greed/historical	CMC Crypto Fear and Greed Historical
/v3/index/cmc100-latest	CoinMarketCap 100 Index Latest
/v3/index/cmc100-historical	CoinMarketCap 100 Index Historical
/v3/index/cmc20-latest	CoinMarketCap 20 Index Latest
/v3/index/cmc20-historical	CoinMarketCap 20 Index Historical
/v1/altcoin-season-index/latest	Altcoin Season Index Latest
/v1/altcoin-season-index/historical	Altcoin Season Index Historical

DEX API

Endpoint	Description
/v4/dex/spot-pairs/latest	Pairs Listings Latest
/v4/dex/pairs/quotes/latest	DEX Pair Quotes Latest
/v1/dex/token	Get token detail
/v1/dex/token/price	Get token price
/v1/dex/token-liquidity/query	Query token liquidity
/v1/dex/token/pools	Get token pools
/v1/dex/search	Search tokens
/v1/dex/security/detail	Get security detail
/v1/dex/tokens/transactions	Get swap list
/v1/dex/liquidity-change/list	Get liquidity change list
/v1/dex/platform/list	Get platform list
/v1/dex/platform/detail	Get platform detail
/v1/k-line/candles	K-line candles
/v1/k-line/points	K-line points
/v1/dex/holders/list	Get holders list
/v1/dex/holders/count	Get holder count
/v1/dex/holders/detail	Get holder detail

Ready for more?

• Next: set up a key - Get Started with an API Key walks you through getting a free API key (no credit card) and making your first authenticated request - same response shape, much higher rate limits, plus the full Pro and DEX catalog.
• Full endpoint reference - choose an endpoint.
• Standards, conventions, and errors - read the guides.