Exchange rates in cryptocurrency refer to the relative value or price of one cryptocurrency compared to another cryptocurrency or to fiat currencies (like USD, EUR, etc.). These rates are primarily determined by:

1. Market supply and demand - Trading activity across various exchanges influences prices
2. Market depth and liquidity - How easily large amounts can be bought/sold without significant price impact
3. Trading pairs - Direct exchange rates between specific cryptocurrencies or with fiat currencies

The most common reference rates are typically:

• BTC/USD (Bitcoin to US Dollar)
• ETH/BTC (Ethereum to Bitcoin)
• ETH/USD (Ethereum to US Dollar)

Multiple factors influence rates, including:

• Market supply and demand
• News and regulatory developments
• Technical factors like network upgrades
• Overall market sentiment
• Trading volume and liquidity
• Macroeconomic conditions

Rate differences between exchanges occur due to:

• Different trading volumes and liquidity depths
• Geographic restrictions and regulations
• Fees and spread policies
• Local market conditions
• Arbitrage opportunities not yet balanced out

The Exchange Rate API is a service offered by CoinAPI that provides real-time and historical exchange rate data for a wide range of cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. This API is essential for developers and businesses that require accurate and up-to-date pricing information to power their applications, trading platforms, financial analytics, and more.

Exchange rate data provided by CoinAPI serves a multitude of applications across various industries and applications. Below are some prominent use cases:

1. Algorithmic and High-Frequency Trading - Traders use real-time exchange rate data to develop and deploy algorithmic trading strategies that execute trades based on predefined criteria. High-frequency traders leverage discrepancies in exchange rates across different exchanges to execute arbitrage strategies, capitalizing on price differences for profit.
2. Financial Analysis and Research - Analysts utilize historical and real-time exchange rate data to identify and analyze market trends, helping in forecasting future price movements.
3. Portfolio Management - Portfolio managers use exchange rate data to accurately value cryptocurrency holdings, ensuring precise portfolio assessments.
4. Risk Management - Monitoring exchange rates assists in assessing and mitigating risks associated with currency volatility.
5. Payment Processing - Businesses offering crypto-based payment solutions rely on up-to-date exchange rates to provide accurate currency conversion for transactions.
6. DeFi Apps - DeFi platforms integrate exchange rate data to execute smart contracts that depend on accurate price feeds for functionalities like lending, borrowing, and yield farming.
7. Liquidity Pools - Accurate exchange rates help in managing liquidity pools by ensuring fair pricing and efficient asset distribution.
8. Tax Reporting - Individuals and businesses use historical exchange rate data to comply with tax reporting requirements related to cryptocurrency transactions.
9. Education - Educational institutions and online platforms utilize historical exchange rate data to create simulations and learning tools that teach market dynamics and trading strategies.
10. Market Analysis Projects - Students and researchers employ exchange rate data for academic projects and comprehensive market analyses.

We offer two API connections:

• REST API - straightforward and effective for operations that can tolerate the latency inherent in the request-response model. It's widely used for accessing historical data, account management, and other non-time-sensitive operations.
• WebSocket - tailored for real-time applications, such as live market data feeds, trading platforms, and other scenarios where immediate data access is crucial. It offers lower latency and continuous data streams but comes with added complexity in implementation and resource management.
• JSON-RPC is a lightweight remote procedure call protocol encoded in JSON. It allows for efficient and straightforward communication between a client and a server over various transport protocols. JSON-RPC is widely used in web services and APIs due to its simplicity and ease of use.

The enterprise plan is custom-tailored based on specific project needs, including:

• Custom limits
• Dedicated infrastructure
• Other requirements

It's impossible to set a price without knowing the details. Contacting CoinAPI sales is necessary to get a quote.

Yes, you can upgrade or downgrade your subscription as your needs change. This flexibility allows you to switch between plans based on your data requirements. Upgrading and downgrading operations are prorated, the remaining amount on your subscription at the moment of the change will be credited towards future liabilities. Your billing period cycle is not affected by plan change.

Example 1:

If you have a Streamer subscription with a billing date of 2018-07-15 and it's 2018-07-05 and you want to upgrade your Streamer plan to the Professional, then:

• Unused Streamer subscriptions between 2018-07-05 and 2018-07-15 will be credited.
• Professional subscriptions between 2018-07-05 and 2018-07-15 will be debited.

Example 2:

You have the Professional subscription with a billing date of 2018-07-15, and it's 2018-07-05, and you want to downgrade to the Streamer plan, then:

• Unused Professional subscriptions between 2018-07-05 and 2018-07-15 will be credited
• Streamer subscriptions between 2018-07-05 and 2018-07-15 will be debited.
• The remaining credit will be applied to future invoices.

CoinAPI generally accepts major credit cards for subscription payments.

We accept payments in crypto, as well. Bank wire payment is possible, too. Contact support for more information.

Both APIs deliver financial data but serve different business needs with different data processing models, update frequencies and use cases.

Exchange Rates API - Aggregated & processed rates. For pricing, accounting, and financial reporting with standardized data points across currency pairs.

Market Data API - Raw, real-time trading data like Trades, Order Books, Quotes and OHLCV data. For trading strategies, market analysis and algorithmic decision-making with microsecond precision.