CoinGecko Review 2024: A Guide For This Must-Use Crypto Tool!

The crypto world is brimming with odd, quirky and wonderful phrases that people throw around on a daily basis. Whether they want to feel part of the "in" crowd or the terms just naturally pop up within the crypto community, there is a fascinating mix of expressions out there - "Number go up," "wagmi" (we're all going to make it), "HODL," and "buy the dip," just to name a few examples.

But among all these, one phrase takes the crown for being some of the soundest advice anyone can give - "dyor" (do your own research). It's like a mantra that keeps popping up everywhere, even in Guy's videos, where he enjoys saying it just as much as his famous "This is not financial advice."

So, how does one actually go about DYOR-ing? It's a question worth exploring!

Well, one of the first places to go would be a website that collects crypto market data, the more comprehensive the better. In this space, there are two websites often mentioned in the same breath: CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko. 

Whether it's the price you're looking for, market cap, contract addresses, exchange support, or basic stats of a token, these websites both provide solid information. However, moving past the basics, there's a lot more to CoinGecko than meets the eye, including a glossary section for looking up the meaning of the phrases mentioned earlier, if you're curious.

In this CoinGecko Review, we're going to delve deeper into this versatile platform and share with you some treasures we unearthed in our exploratory journey. We think you will be quite delighted with what we find together.

CoinGecko Review: Summary

CoinGecko is a crypto data aggregator that can be one of your most useful resources in helping you navigate the wild and wacky world of crypto. 

We do a deep dive into the platform to check out the offerings in detail. At the end of the article, we hope that you would be able to pick up some handy information or some tools to assist you in your own crypto journey. 

The Key Features of CoinGecko are:

• Largest number of exchanges (781) tracked in the industry 
• Listings of 10,000+ tokens
• Impressive array of API endpoints used to power the websites of major crypto sites.
• Extensive data coverage of the crypto market
• Informative research reports presented in an easily-digestible format
• Crypto news aggregator powered by CryptoPanic
• NFT tracker
• GeckoTerminal DeFi Tracker
• Crypto portfolio tracker
• A mass array of crypto educational content
• Mobile app

Introduction to CoinGecko

The crypto world moves at the speed of light. Every other day there is a new blockchain launching, a new dApp on the market, a new token issued, a breaking piece of news, a new NFT collection being unveiled, or another unsavoury hack, exploit, etc. 

It is beyond the limits of one person to keep track of everything happening all the time. Coupled with the proliferation of AI tools in the last year or so, misinformation is also loitering around the fringes, causing a minor disturbance every now and then. While it's true that one of the mantras in the crypto world is “don't trust, verify”, we all have to start someplace where we can be relatively sure of the trustworthiness of the data that is being presented. CoinGecko is one of those places where we can perform some of that verification.

The founders at CoinGecko champion data transparency and user empowerment which is seen in both words and actions. Their mission statement states their desire to “democratize the access of crypto data and empower users with actionable insights.” The result of that is the CoinGecko platform with its 360-degree approach to data collection and presentation, fulfilling the democratisation part of the statement. In other words, it's like having the free version of a Bloomberg Terminal available for both regular crypto Janes and Joes, industry mavens, plus everyone in between.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered out of Malaysia, the platform also features an education section together with tools and APIs that allow users to utilise them in any way they choose. In addition, they've also published beginner books on crypto to help newbies get on board the crypto train with confidence. 

CoinGecko was founded by TM Lee and Bobby Ong. TM graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Computer Science in the US and Bobby is a graduate of the Economics department at UCL in the UK. It was at UCL that Bobby learned about the workings of the financial world, but it was what happened to Cyprus in 2013 that gave him his first awakening when he saw that “the trust between government and savers can be broken when depositors are forced to take a haircut on their savings”. 

CoinGecko was launched as the accumulation of both TM and Bobby's own crypto journey when they realised that a platform providing market data was lacking in 2014. By 2017, they'd published their first research report on the crypto market. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, not only publishing quarterly reports but also improving the platform to offer more useful tools and insights to users.

Why Millions of Users Around the World Trust CoinGecko

CoinGecko is one of the OG platforms in the crypto world. Since their debut in 2014, they have tirelessly provided users with the most up-to-date information on the crypto market so that traders and investors can keep abreast of the market trends and volatile price action that can happen anytime. 

Improvements and new tools are also released on a yearly basis. The official iOS and Android app was launched in 2018 with new features being added regularly. In 2019, in line with their mission of providing data transparency, the team also launched the Trust Score system to combat fake exchange volume data. 

Tweaks are still being done to make the methodology more solid, including adding Proof of Reserves as one of the metrics for scoring. In 2020, the CoinGecko Candy rewards program was released with the purpose of incentivising user loyalty.  The platform also has a vibrant online community, as evidenced by active engagement across all major social media platforms. 

One of their crown jewels, the API keys, are used by major industry players to power their own websites, many of which are familiar to the crypto world. These API keys are also available to any developer for a small price. There are also public API keys available free of charge that can fulfil most of the basic functions necessary for a simple website to have decent price-tracking capabilities of the tokens listed on the platform.

CoinGecko Features and Services

The platform has 5 main sections that are easy to navigate and packed with handy tools and charts. These are: 

1. Cryptocurrencies - Here is where you can find all sorts of charts and tools related to the assets.
2. Exchanges - get the lowdown on both centralised and decentralised exchanges plus derivatives.
3. NFTs - the perfect place for NFT degens and enthusiasts to check out floor prices and tokens related to NFT projects.
4. Learn Crypto - education is a key aspect of crypto. There is something for everyone to learn in this section, whether you're new to crypto or an OG.
5. Products - Free services offered exclusively by CoinGecko for the benefit of everyone.

We've combed through all the offerings listed in these sections and brought you some choice highlights for each section. Rather than presenting them by category, we've decided to list the highlights based on the likelihood of user demand. This means that the more popular features will be listed followed by the niche ones that would be appealing to a smaller group of people. 

Categories

Crypto assets are sorted into various categories but it mainly falls into two groups: function-based and ecosystem-based. L2s, Meme, GameFi are just some examples of the former while Near Protocol, Polygon, and Arbitrum are samples of the latter. By clicking on each of the categories, you can see a breakdown of all the crypto assets that belong to that category. If you are a fan of a certain ecosystem or kinds of tokens, this is a great way to check out what's available. New categories like Animal Racing are being added on a regular basis, so it pays to keep an eye on this page.

NFT Floor Price Tracker

During the last bull run, when NFTs first burst into everyone's eyeballs, the prices for NFTs went to insane levels. Since then, in this bear market we're currently in, how have those NFTs fared? Instead of relying on piecemeal reports of a few NFTs, you can see the reality for yourself in this handy tracker. The NFTs in this list come from all the major NFT markets from various blockchains. Note that the floor price is the lowest asking price for an NFT in a collection. Click on any of the headings to sort by ascending or descending order in addition to filtering by blockchain.

Watchlists

The lists are compiled by the CoinGecko team according to various lists. The top 15 cryptos of each list are displayed here with the option to click for more. Some examples of the lists include Trending Cryptos, Most Viewed (on the platform), Largest Gainers, and Upcoming Cryptocurrencies. It's a good place to get an overall view of what the users on CoinGecko are interested in.

Centralised and Decentralised Exchanges

Exchanges are the pumping hearts of the crypto community. Whether it's CEX, DEX, derivatives, or perpetuals, this is where hype about projects sees actual results through the price action. These are also the spaces where collective fear and greed are starkly reflected. 

After what happened to FTX, it is understandable that there is a lot of trepidation in using centralised exchanges. However, they are currently one of the main ways to get into crypto as they have the ability to accept cash from bank accounts. To help alleviate concerns about the reliability of exchanges, CoinGecko provides Trust Scores to help users determine which exchanges allow them to trade safely. 

CoinGecko also offers an explanation of how the Trust Score is calculated. The description is available by clicking on the Help button and the criteria are outlined on their Methodology page, which we include here for reference: 

1. Overall Liquidity
2. Scale of Operations
3. API Coverage
4. Cybersecurity
5. Team Presence
6. Past Incidents
7. Proof of Assets
8. Proof of Liabilities (est. H1 2023)

To see details of each exchange, click on any of them for a more detailed version: 

Pro Tip❗️: Toggle the top left button to see how the exchanges stack up in terms of cybersecurity and socials!

Decentralised exchanges don't have Trust Scores and are rated based on the last 24 hours of the trading volume. 

GeckoTerminal

Speaking of which, anyone who uses DEXes heavily might want to head over to GeckoTerminal for some serious DEX action. This is a DEX tracking tool that gives you the lowdown on what's going on in the DEX world, which we all know, is where the future of crypto is headed. Choose from over 100 ecosystems and see the liquidity pools performance in each of them, with stats updated daily. It's a great place to start if you're new to DEXes.

Tools for the Traders 

CoinGecko has a number of nifty tools that are useful not only for traders but anyone who has bought and sold any crypto. Below is a small list of some of the tools and utilities:

Compare Coins - This is one of the best tools I've come across as it lets you see how much an altcoin has to go in terms of price to match the market cap of the bigger assets. Let's look at Polkadot as an example. For it to reach the market cap of Bitcoin, its price will need to go to $453.54, that's more than 86x!  Whether it's likely or not, no one can tell but it does give you an idea of what kind of price potential the token has. 

You can also use it to compare two assets in the same category where one is less successful than the other in order to determine the former's potential. This tool is also available in Widget form to be embedded in the webpage of your choice.

Converter - This tool allows users to convert one fiat or crypto asset to another. It's where you go if you want to find out how much is one XMR token worth in USD, EUR, BTC, or LTC to name a few. There are also numerous pre-set pairs for the popular trading pairs and the option to view the main cryptocurrency page in a number of fiat currencies.

Crypto Widgets

These widgets are a handy tool that tracks the real-time prices of any cryptocurrency listed on CoinGecko. They also spruce up any web pages they inhabit by engaging users to interact with them. Check out the selection of widgets below:

These widgets and more can be found on CoinGecko.com/widgets, or by navigating to “products” and then selecting “crypto widgets”.

Tutorials & Guides

Most reputable crypto websites these days have an education section to help people understand more about crypto and CoinGecko is no exception. What makes their material stand out from the rest is that they provide step-by-step tutorials for the topics they cover. Feel free to browse around and learn something new you might not have thought of.

Research Reports

One of the most impressive features of CoinGecko is the amount of research they put into everything crypto-related and how they share that knowledge with everyone. The Research Reports are written in partnership with industry players to present a comprehensive view of what's happening in the crypto world. 

Take the Q2 2023 report that came out recently. There are analyses in the main areas of crypto, i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, and NFT filled with charts and numbers. The report is mixed in with a bit of “news roundup” of the main events that happened in the last quarter and even a summary of the SEC's cases against Coinbase and Binance. At slightly under 50 pages, it's actually not a long read. The format is easy to understand and the dark background with neon-coloured font makes the important words stand out nicely. 

CoinGecko Research

Another type of report offered by CoinGecko is done by its in-house team. These reports delve into some topics that may not be top of the mind for most crypto peeps. I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of reports about other regions around the world and their crypto usage.

While the US is the major market player in the crypto world, it's nice to stick one's head out, take a breather and see how crypto is developing in other parts of the world. These regional reports give me just that starting point I need before I rabbit-hole deeper into any aspect I find intriguing.

Crypto Portfolio

This is one of the star products on the CoinGecko platform. It is a one-stop spot for you to see all your coin holdings AND track any NFTs you're interested in one place. The portfolio is free to use and you can add coins and NFTs from the main charts into your watchlist. If one portfolio is not enough, you can create as many as you want to keep track of different buckets of investments.  

The one thing that could greatly improve usability is the ability to import transactions from exchanges via API keys or the ability to connect your wallet to their platform. Currently, the only way is to manually enter your transactions one by one. Not that handy for those who trade with bots or do high-frequency trading but works well for the tourist trader or hodlers who would like a nice view of their portfolio but don't make too many trades.

Crypto API

Crypto developers, traders, or anyone who knows how to write code can take advantage of the wide array of API endpoints available. Try the Public API for free and if you like what you see, or require more advanced capabilities, consider upgrading to any of their 4 paid plans (Analyst, Lite, Pro, Enterprise). The CoinGecko API has more than 50 endpoints for tracking 10,000+ coins across 700+ exchanges and more than 3000 NFT collections, including the NFT Floor Prices, mentioned earlier.

The data provided by CoinGecko is among the most accurate for aggregated crypto price and market data as they track across the highest number of exchanges in the space. If you are curious about the APIs themselves, take a sneak peek at their Public API documentation and know that these are the same ones used by industry heavyweights like Etherscan, Metamask, Chainlink, and Nansen to name a few.

CoinGecko Premium

CoinGecko also offers a monthly plan as a premium service. Subscription to this plan grants you access to the topics/trends that their research analysts are considering plus the opportunity for private chats with them. It's a great opportunity to pick their brains on what's going on in the crypto world and get some insights personally tailored to your needs. You can also be one of the first to try out any new features developed by the team. 

CoinGecko's Market Cap Calculations

In the Methodology section, there are detailed explanations of some of the metrics found throughout the site. We'd like to highlight two of them as an example of the transparency they show in presenting their data to the public.

The Market Cap calculation is presented from two angles: the crypto asset itself and the overall global market cap for all the cryptocurrencies listed on their website.

The formula for calculating the market cap for a singular asset is as below: 

A = current price in USD 

B = Circulating supply of the asset 

Market Capitalisation  = A * B

You can also find out the formula by clicking on the question mark next to Market Cap for a single asset, as seen in the screenshot below:

For the market cap of the entire crypto industry as listed on the platform, it is the sum total of each project's market cap. This can be found on the main page by toggling the Show Stats button. 

Market capitalization, or market cap reflects a cryptocurrency's dominance and popularity, impacting value changes. High market cap is seen as securing coin value, crucial for investment decisions. However, manipulation can occur in small cap coins with low trading volume and liquidity. Market cap is essential but not the sole metric for evaluation; factors like trading volume, circulating supply, and the project's development team also matter.

CoinGecko's Trading Volume Data

Another metric often used as a reference is Trading Volume. This is split into two types: the crypto asset and the exchange. The crypto asset's trading volume is the aggregated total of all the trading pairs involving it across all exchanges. Let's say exchange A has three trading pairs for Solana: 

• SOL/USD = 3,000 SOL
• SOL/USDT = 4,500 SOL
• SOL/USDC = 2,500 SOL

The trading volume for SOL would then be 3,000 + 4,500 + 2,500 = 10,000 SOL for exchange A. The numbers from other exchanges are tabulated the same way and all of them are added together to get the big number. 

When it comes to exchanges, a similar method is used whereby all the trading pairs of an exchange are added up and then converted into whichever currency that is chosen for display by the user. 

Trading volume is used to gauge the level of interest amongst buyers and sellers for an asset/exchange. The more often a trade occurs for the asset or on the exchange, the more activity and interest there is. This metric is often used in conjunction with the price range of the token to see what is acceptable to buyers and sellers. A very tight price range with high trading volume indicates people are snapping up and selling as quickly as soon as something is available in the market. A wider price range with not a lot of activity can mean a mismatch between buying and selling interest.

Benefits of Using CoinGecko

CoinGecko features a relatively clutter-free interface that makes it easy to navigate around the site while providing a wide variety of data about each crypto asset and exchange. Not only do you see prices both historical and current, some of them also offer tokenomics as part of the asset's basic info for better understanding.  

CoinGecko rewards user loyalty with its Candy program. Points can be redeemed for discounts for a variety of products related to the industry. This is a nice way to get more users onto the site and encourages active engagement.

The tutorials provide clear instructions based on the topics covered. Even though some of them might look to be a bit advanced, it's worth checking them out as it might not be as difficult as you think. I also love that they have guides and a glossary that explains some of the terminology used by the crypto community. This is one of the best places for new users to get started if they want to understand the lingo.

CoinGecko's closest competitor is CoinMarketCap (CMC) as both are in the same line of business. Guy made a video comparing both platforms, and you can see for yourself why he is a fan of CoinGecko by watching the video below:

Potential Drawbacks of CoinGecko

One of the criticisms against CoinGecko is that the number of tokens listed is less than what's available on CoinMarketCap, so if there's a way for them to up their listing speed, it could drive more users to their site and keep them loyal. Having to manually enter transactions into the crypto portfolio tracker is also a bit of a pain, I hope they can do something to alleviate this in the near future. 

This may come across as a bit of a nitpick but it would be nice if the headings at the top for the main categories had a bigger font than they do now which makes for better navigation for those with not very good eyesight. It could also seem like an overwhelming amount of information with the plethora of charts and reports offered, but that's catering to different needs. Feel free to cherry-pick what you want, you can always come back and read up on what you missed the first time around. 

CoinGecko Review Conclusion: Is It Worth It?

CoinGecko has worked hard to create a reputation for accuracy and transparency of market data and fully intends to safeguard that reputation as much as possible. It is one of the few sites where you can see an example of “walking the walk”, which, in the crypto space that's filled with over-promises and scams, is a relief to many. The platform has many solid offerings and also room for improvement. The highlights mentioned here are by no means the only services they offer, there's a lot more on the table with new products and innovations rolling out regularly, so we invite you to discover them yourself.

Both investors and traders can get a lot of value out of the meticulous reports and choice of charts offered to gain a firm understanding of the market or token of interest. Even the crypto daytripper can get a decent amount of free knowledge available through their learning centre, which would certainly assist them in building a firm foundation of crypto knowledge that will stand them in good stead in the days to come.