This tutorial will show you how to get real-time cryptocurrency prices with Python. You’ll use the pycoingecko library, a Python wrapper for the CoinGecko API for retrieving real-time cryptocurrency prices. CoinGecko is a data analysis platform for the digital currency market that provides real-time and historical cryptocurrency information.

The following pip command installs the pycoingecko library for Python.

Installing Pycoingecko Library

pip install pycoingecko

List All Supported Cryptocurrencies

To begin using pycoingecko, you need to import the CoinGeckoAPI class from the pycoingecko module. Then, call the get_coins() method to see a list of all CoinGecko supported cryptocurrencies. We’ll demonstrate by displaying the first 10 cryptocurrencies using the following script.

from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI
import pandas as pd

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()

all_currencies = cg_client.get_coins()
pd.DataFrame(all_currencies)['id'].head(10)

Output:

0          bitcoin
1         ethereum
2           tether
3         usd-coin
4      binancecoin
5           ripple
6      binance-usd
7         dogecoin
8          cardano
9    matic-network
Name: id, dtype: object

Similarly, the get_supported_vs_currencies() method returns a list of all destination currencies.

from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI
import pandas as pd

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()

vs_curr = cg_client.get_supported_vs_currencies()

print(vs_curr)

Output:

['btc', 'eth', 'ltc', 'bch', 'bnb', 'eos', 'xrp', 'xlm', 'link', 'dot', 'yfi', 'usd', 'aed', 'ars', 'aud', 'bdt', 'bhd', 'bmd', 'brl', 'cad', 'chf', 'clp', 'cny', 'czk', 'dkk', 'eur', 'gbp', 'hkd', 'huf', 'idr', 'ils', 'inr', 'jpy', 'krw', 'kwd', 'lkr', 'mmk', 'mxn', 'myr', 'ngn', 'nok', 'nzd', 'php', 'pkr', 'pln', 'rub', 'sar', 'sek', 'sgd', 'thb', 'try', 'twd', 'uah', 'vef', 'vnd', 'zar', 'xdr', 'xag', 'xau', 'bits', 'sats']

As you can see from the above output, you can convert cryptocurrencies into various other FIAT currencies, and cryptocurrencies.

Get Real-Time Price for a Single Cryptocurrency

To get the latest price for a single cryptocurrency, you need to import the CoinGeckoAPI class from the pycoingecko module, and call its get_price() method. You need to pass the name of your source cryptocurrency in the string format to the get_price() method’s ids parameter. The name of the destination currency is passed to the vs_currencies parameter.

For example, the following script returns the real-time price of Bitcoin in USD. The output returns a dictionary where the dictionary key corresponds to the source currency, while the corresponding value shows the destination currency name and value.

from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI

crypto_currency = 'bitcoin'
destination_currency = 'usd'

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()
prices = cg_client.get_price(ids = crypto_currency,
                             vs_currencies = destination_currency)
print(prices)

Output:

{'bitcoin': {'usd': 17492.13}}

You can retrieve the integer value of a cryptocurrency using a script like this:

print(prices[crypto_currency][destination_currency])

Output:

17492.13

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Get Real-time Prices for Multiple Cryptocurrencies

To retrieve cryptocurrency prices for multiple types of cryptocurrency, you need to pass a comma separated list of source cryptocurrencies to the ids attribute of the get_price() method. Similarly, passing comma separated list of destination currencies to the vs_currencies attribute returns prices in multiple destination currencies.

For example, the following script returns prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin in USD and GBP.

from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI

crypto_currency = 'bitcoin, ethereum, dogecoin'
destination_currency = 'usd, gbp'

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()
prices = cg_client.get_price(ids = crypto_currency,
                             vs_currencies = destination_currency)
print(prices)

Output:

{'bitcoin': {'usd': 17495.12, 'gbp': 14176.59}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087139, 'gbp': 0.07061}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1274.34, 'gbp': 1032.62}}

You can also retrieve the price of one cryptocurrency in another cryptocurrency. For example, the code below returns Bitcoin and Dogecoin prices in Ethereum.

from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI

crypto_currency = 'bitcoin, dogecoin'
destination_currency = 'eth'

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()
prices = cg_client.get_price(ids = crypto_currency,
                             vs_currencies = destination_currency)
print(prices)

Output:

{'bitcoin': {'eth': 13.727775}, 'dogecoin': {'eth': 6.837e-05}}

Get Cryptocurrency Prices after Regular Time Intervals

You can automate getting real-time cryptocurrency prices after regular intervals with a straightforward Python script.

For example, the following script incorporates a while loop to retrieve real-time Bitcoin prices every two seconds. The Python time.sleep() method adds a delay of two seconds to each while loop iteration. (Note: This frequency is excessive since the CoinGecko API claims its endpoints are refreshed every 1 to 2 minutes, on average, but we’re presenting it every 2 seconds for demonstration purposes).

import time
from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI
import datetime

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()

crypto_currency = 'bitcoin'
destination_currency = 'usd'


while True:

    prices = cg_client.get_price(ids = crypto_currency,
                                 vs_currencies = destination_currency)
    
    print('Prices at', datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), ':', prices)
    
    time.sleep(2)

Output:

Prices at 2022-12-15 15:24:57 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17489.7}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:24:59 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17489.7}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:25:02 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17489.7}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:25:04 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17533.85}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:25:06 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17533.85}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:25:08 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17533.85}}

In the same way, you can get real-time prices for multiple cryptocurrencies after regular intervals, as the following script demonstrates.

import time
from pycoingecko import CoinGeckoAPI
import datetime

cg_client = CoinGeckoAPI()

crypto_currency = 'bitcoin, ethereum, dogecoin'
destination_currency = 'usd, gbp'

while True:

    prices = cg_client.get_price(ids = crypto_currency,
                                 vs_currencies = destination_currency)
    
    print('Prices at', datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), ':', prices)
    
    time.sleep(2)

Output:

Prices at 2022-12-15 15:49:54 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17490.02, 'gbp': 14197.26}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087175, 'gbp': 0.070763}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1274.85, 'gbp': 1034.84}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:49:56 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17490.02, 'gbp': 14197.26}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087175, 'gbp': 0.070763}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1274.85, 'gbp': 1034.84}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:49:58 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17490.02, 'gbp': 14197.26}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087175, 'gbp': 0.070763}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1274.85, 'gbp': 1034.84}}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:52:03 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17465.32, 'gbp': 14181.96}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087002, 'gbp': 0.070646}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1272.94, 'gbp': 1033.64}}
Prices at 2022-12-15 15:52:05 : {'bitcoin': {'usd': 17465.32, 'gbp': 14181.96}, 'dogecoin': {'usd': 0.087002, 'gbp': 0.070646}, 'ethereum': {'usd': 1272.94, 'gbp': 1033.64}}

In addition to retrieving real-time cryptocurrency prices, you can programmatically retrieve a lot of other useful information about cryptocurrencies using pycoingecko. When you’re ready to pull more than prices, refer to this great CoinGecko API Python Tutorial.

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