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Understanding Public vs Private Crypto APIs: Key Differences Explained

Explore the key differences between public and private crypto APIs, including security, use cases, and how to choose the right API for your crypto projects.
Token Metrics Team
5
MIN

APIs power much of the innovation in the crypto space, but developers and analysts often face a key technical crossroads: Should you use a public or a private crypto API? Each API type serves different use cases and comes with its own set of advantages, limitations, and security requirements. Understanding these differences is critical for building effective crypto platforms, bots, and research tools.

What Are Crypto APIs?

Crypto APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are sets of rules that let software applications interact with blockchain data, exchanges, wallets, or analytical tools. APIs bring order to a decentralized landscape, making it possible to access real-time prices, submit transactions, retrieve on-chain activity, or gather analytics—often without manually interacting with the blockchain itself.

There are two primary categories of crypto APIs:

  • Public APIs – Open, broadly accessible interfaces providing non-sensitive data or public blockchain information.
  • Private APIs – Restricted endpoints requiring authentication and permissions, allowing access to user-specific or sensitive operations.

But how do these two categories truly differ, and why does it matter for crypto application development and data consumption?

Public Crypto APIs: Open Access to Blockchain Data

Public crypto APIs typically provide access to information that is either non-sensitive or already visible on public blockchains. Examples include:

  • Market prices and trading volume
  • Blockchain explorer data (transactions, blocks, network statistics)
  • Token metadata and listings
  • General protocol or exchange status

Key traits of public APIs:

  • No login required: Most public APIs are accessible without authentication, although rate limits may be enforced to prevent abuse.
  • Great for data feeds: Ideal for researchers, portfolio trackers, or analytics dashboards needing large-scale, up-to-date datasets.
  • Limited functionality: Public APIs do not let you interact with personal accounts, make trades, or perform actions that expose user data.

For instance, if you want to build a website displaying the latest Bitcoin price or trending DeFi projects, you’d usually rely on public crypto APIs.

Private Crypto APIs: Secure, Authenticated Endpoints

Private crypto APIs open the door to more sensitive and powerful functionality, but require strict controls. They are generally used for:

  • Accessing user-specific account balances
  • Placing, modifying, or cancelling trades on an exchange
  • Transferring funds or managing API keys
  • Retrieving private analytics, custom watchlists, or signals

Key characteristics include:

  • Authentication required: Commonly via API keys, OAuth tokens, or signatures. This protects user data and controls access.
  • Security and privacy orientations: Implemented with strict rate limiting, encryption in transit, and granular permissions.
  • Risk of exposure: Poorly managed private keys or API credentials can lead to loss of control over accounts or assets.

Developers building personal portfolio management tools, automated trading bots, or custodial dashboards integrate private crypto APIs to enable a customized, authenticated user experience.

Key Differences: Public vs Private Crypto APIs

Understanding the distinctions helps teams design more robust crypto products:

  • Access & Security: Public APIs are low-risk and have minimal restrictions, whereas private APIs can expose user or financial data if mishandled.
  • Rate Limiting: Public APIs have moderate limits to ensure fair usage, while private endpoints often get higher quotas based on trust and verification.
  • Functional Scope: Public endpoints only relay general data; private endpoints enable actionable operations like trading or transferring assets.
  • Use Case Alignment: Public APIs suit real-time charts, analytics, and research, while private APIs drive account-specific dashboards, bots, and custom integrations.

The choice often comes down to your project requirements: If you just need publicly available blockchain data or market feeds, public APIs suffice. If your solution needs to modify user data or interact on behalf of a user, private APIs with strong authentication are mandatory.

Choosing the Right API for Secure Crypto Development

Several factors help determine whether a public or private crypto API is appropriate:

  1. Data Sensitivity: Is the data or action user-specific or can it be safely shared with the public?
  2. Application Purpose: Are you building an analytics dashboard (public API) or a trading bot (private API)?
  3. Security Posture: Does your team have processes for securely storing and rotating API keys?
  4. API Provider Reputation: Evaluate available documentation, historical uptime, and support—especially with private APIs.

Following best practices for handling API credentials—such as storing secrets off-chain, using environment variables, and enforcing minimal permission scopes—can greatly reduce risk.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Public vs Private Crypto APIs

What can I build with public crypto APIs?

Public crypto APIs help developers launch apps like price tickers, market dashboards, blockchain explorers, and analytics tools that require broadly accessible, non-sensitive data. They are ideal for gathering real-time feeds or tracking on-chain activity without user authentication.

How do private crypto APIs handle security?

Private crypto APIs protect endpoints with authentication mechanisms like API keys, OAuth, or digital signatures. This ensures only authorized clients can fetch sensitive information or perform actions like trading or withdrawals. API providers also employ rate limits and monitor usage for suspicious behavior.

Are rate limits different for public vs private APIs?

Yes. Public APIs often have stricter rate limits to prevent abuse, since anyone can access them. Private API users, once authenticated, may receive higher quotas, prioritizing account-specific operations.

What are the risks of using private API keys in crypto?

Exposed, leaked, or improperly stored private API keys can allow malicious actors to access accounts, make unauthorized trades, or withdraw funds. Always use environment variables, restrict permissions, and rotate keys periodically.

How do I choose the best crypto API provider?

Look for reliability, comprehensive documentation, secure authentication, supportive developer communities, and transparent pricing. Solutions like Token Metrics combine robust data coverage and AI-powered insights for flexible crypto app development.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Always perform your own research and implement strong security practices when developing crypto applications or integrating APIs.

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Token Metrics Team
Token Metrics Team

Recent Posts

Token Metrics API

Price Prediction API: Model Moon/Base/Bear Scenarios in Minutes

Sam Monac
5 min
MIN

Every trader wonders: how high could this token really go? The price prediction API from Token Metrics lets you explore Moon, Base, and Bear scenarios for any asset—grounded in market-cap assumptions like $2T, $8T, $16T and beyond. In this guide, you’ll call /v2/price-prediction, render scenario bands (with editable caps), and ship a planning feature your users will bookmark. Start by creating a key at Get API Key, then Run Hello-TM and Clone a Template to go live fast.

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What You’ll Build in 2 Minutes

  • A minimal script that fetches Price Predictions via /v2/price-prediction for any symbol (e.g., BTC, SUI).

  • A simple UI pattern showing Moon / Base / Bear ranges and underlying market-cap scenarios.

  • Optional one-liner curl to smoke-test your API key.

  • Endpoints to add next: /v2/tm-grade (quality context), /v2/trading-signals / /v2/hourly-trading-signals (timing), /v2/resistance-support (stop/target placement), /v2/quantmetrics (risk/return framing).

Why This Matters

Scenario planning beats guessing. Prices move, narratives change, but market-cap scenarios provide a common yardstick for upside/downside. With the price prediction API, you can give users transparent, parameterized ranges (Moon/Base/Bear) and the assumptions behind them—perfect for research, allocation, and position sizing.

Build investor trust. Pair scenario ranges with TM Grade (quality) and Quantmetrics (risk-adjusted performance) so users see both potential and risk. Add optional alerts when price approaches a scenario level to turn curiosity into action—without promising outcomes.

Where to Find 

Find the cURL request for Price Predictions in the top right corner of the API Reference. Use it to easily pull up predictions for your project.

👉 Keep momentum: Get API Key • Run Hello-TM • Clone a Template

Live Demo & Templates

  • Scenario Planner (Dashboard): Select a token, choose caps (e.g., $2T / $8T / $16T), and display Moon/Base/Bear ranges with tooltips.

  • Portfolio Allocator: Pair scenario bands with Quantmetrics and TM Grade to justify position sizes and rebalances.

  • Alert Bot (Discord/Telegram): Ping when price approaches a scenario level; link to the dashboard for context.

Fork a scenario planner or alerting template, plug in your key, and deploy. Confirm your environment by Running Hello-TM, and when you’re scaling users or need higher limits, review API plans.

How It Works (Under the Hood)

The Price Prediction endpoint maps market-cap scenarios to implied token prices, then categorizes them into Bear, Base, and Moon bands for readability. Your inputs can include a symbol and optional market caps; the response returns a scenario array you can plot or tabulate.

A common UX path is: Token selector → Scenario caps input → Prediction bands + context. For deeper insight, link to TM Grade (quality), Trading Signals (timing), and Support/Resistance (execution levels). This creates a complete plan–decide–act loop without overpromising outcomes.

Polling vs webhooks. Predictions don’t require sub-second updates; short-TTL caching and batched fetches work well for dashboards. If you build alerts (“price within 2% of Base scenario”), use a scheduled job and make notifications idempotent to avoid duplicates.

Production Checklist

  • Rate limits: Understand your tier caps; add client throttling and worker queues.

  • Retries & backoff: Exponential backoff with jitter for 429/5xx; capture request IDs.

  • Idempotency: De-dup alerts and downstream actions (e.g., avoid repeat pings).

  • Caching: Memory/Redis/KV with short TTLs; pre-warm popular symbols.

  • Batching: Fetch multiple symbols per cycle; parallelize within rate limits.

  • User controls: Expose caps (e.g., $2T/$8T/$16T) and save presets per user.

  • Display clarity: Label Bear/Base/Moon and show the implied market cap next to each price.

  • Compliance copy: Add a reminder that scenarios are not financial advice; historical outcomes don’t guarantee future results.

  • Observability: Track p95/p99 latency and error rate; log alert outcomes.

  • Security: Store API keys in secrets managers; rotate regularly.

Use Cases & Patterns

  • Bot Builder (Headless): Size positions relative to scenario distance (smaller size near Moon, larger near Bear) while confirming timing with /v2/trading-signals.

  • Dashboard Builder (Product): Add a Predictions tab on token pages; let users tweak caps and export a CSV of bands.

  • Screener Maker (Lightweight Tools): Rank tokens by upside to Base or distance to Bear; add alert toggles for approach thresholds.

  • PM/Allocator: Create policy rules like “increase weight when upside-to-Base > X% and TM Grade ≥ threshold.”

  • Education/Content: Blog widgets showing scenario bands for featured tokens; link to your app’s detailed page.

Next Steps

  • Get API Key — generate a key and start free.

  • Run Hello-TM — verify your first successful call.

  • Clone a Template — deploy a scenario planner or alerts bot today.

  • Watch the demo: VIDEO_URL_HERE

  • Compare plans: Scale confidently with API plans.

FAQs

1) What does the Price Prediction API return?
A JSON array of scenario objects for a symbol—each with a market cap and implied price, typically labeled Bear, Base, and Moon for clarity.

2) Can I set my own scenarios?
Yes, you can pass custom market caps (e.g., $2T, $8T, $16T) to reflect your thesis. Store presets per user or strategy for repeatability.

3) Is this financial advice? How accurate are these predictions?
No. These are scenario estimates based on your assumptions. They’re for planning and research, not guarantees. Always test, diversify, and manage risk.

4) How often should I refresh predictions?
Scenario bands typically don’t need real-time updates. Refresh on page load or at a reasonable cadence (e.g., hourly/daily), and cache results for speed.

5) Do you offer SDKs and examples?
REST is straightforward—see the JavaScript and Python snippets above. The docs include quickstarts, Postman collections, and templates—start with Run Hello-TM.

6) How do I integrate predictions with execution?
Pair predictions with TM Grade (quality), Trading Signals (timing), and Support/Resistance (SL/TP). Alert when price nears a scenario and route to your broker logic (paper-trade first).

7) Pricing, limits, and SLAs?
Start free and scale up as you grow. See API plans for rate limits and enterprise SLA options.

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Token Metrics API

Moonshots API: Discover Breakout Tokens Before the Crowd

Sam Monac
5 min
MIN

The biggest gains in crypto rarely come from the majors. They come from Moonshots—fast-moving tokens with breakout potential. The Moonshots API surfaces these candidates programmatically so you can rank, alert, and act inside your product. In this guide, you’ll call /v2/moonshots, display a high-signal list with TM Grade and Bullish tags, and wire it into bots, dashboards, or screeners in minutes. Start by grabbing your key at Get API Key, then Run Hello-TM and Clone a Template to ship fast.

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What You’ll Build in 2 Minutes

  • A minimal script that fetches Moonshots via /v2/moonshots (optionally filter by grade/signal/limit).

  • A UI pattern to render symbol, TM Grade, signal, reason/tags, and timestamp—plus a link to token details.

  • Optional one-liner curl to smoke-test your key.

  • Endpoints to add next: /v2/tm-grade (one-score ranking), /v2/trading-signals / /v2/hourly-trading-signals (timing), /v2/resistance-support (stops/targets), /v2/quantmetrics (risk sizing), /v2/price-prediction (scenario ranges).

Why This Matters

Discovery that converts. Users want more than price tickers—they want a curated, explainable list of high-potential tokens. The moonshots API encapsulates multiple signals into a short list designed for exploration, alerts, and watchlists you can monetize.

Built for builders. The endpoint returns a consistent schema with grade, signal, and context so you can immediately sort, badge, and trigger workflows. With predictable latency and clear filters, you can scale to dashboards, mobile apps, and headless bots without reinventing the discovery pipeline.

Where to Find 

The Moonshots API cURL request is right there in the top right of the API Reference. Grab it and start tapping into the potential!

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👉 Keep momentum: Get API Key • Run Hello-TM • Clone a Template

Live Demo & Templates

  • Moonshots Screener (Dashboard): A discover tab that ranks tokens by TM Grade and shows the latest Bullish tags and reasons.

  • Alert Bot (Discord/Telegram): DM when a new token enters the Moonshots list or when the signal flips; include S/R levels for SL/TP.

  • Watchlist Widget (Product): One-click “Follow” on Moonshots; show Quantmetrics for risk and a Price Prediction range for scenario planning.

Fork a screener or alerting template, plug your key, and deploy. Validate your environment with Hello-TM. When you scale users or need higher limits, compare API plans.

How It Works (Under the Hood)

The Moonshots endpoint aggregates a set of evidence—often combining TM Grade, signal state, and momentum/volume context—into a shortlist of breakout candidates. Each row includes a symbol, grade, signal, and timestamp, plus optional reason tags for transparency.

For UX, a common pattern is: headline list → token detail where you render TM Grade (quality), Trading Signals (timing), Support/Resistance (risk placement), Quantmetrics (risk-adjusted performance), and Price Prediction scenarios. This lets users understand why a token was flagged and how to act with risk controls.

Polling vs webhooks. Dashboards typically poll with short-TTL caching. Alerting flows use scheduled jobs or webhooks (where available) to smooth traffic and avoid duplicates. Always make notifications idempotent.

Production Checklist

  • Rate limits: Respect plan caps; batch and throttle in clients/workers.

  • Retries & backoff: Exponential backoff with jitter on 429/5xx; capture request IDs.

  • Idempotency: De-dup alerts and downstream actions (e.g., don’t re-DM on retries).

  • Caching: Memory/Redis/KV with short TTLs; pre-warm during peak hours.

  • Batching: Fetch in pages (e.g., limit + offset if supported); parallelize within limits.

  • Sorting & tags: Sort primarily by tm_grade or composite; surface reason tags to build trust.

  • Observability: Track p95/p99, error rates, and alert delivery success; log variant versions.

  • Security: Store keys in a secrets manager; rotate regularly.

Use Cases & Patterns

  • Bot Builder (Headless):


    • Universe filter: trade only tokens appearing in Moonshots with tm_grade ≥ X.

    • Timing: confirm entry with /v2/trading-signals; place stops/targets with /v2/resistance-support; size via Quantmetrics.

  • Dashboard Builder (Product):


    • Moonshots tab with Badges (Bullish, Grade 80+, Momentum).

    • Token detail page integrating TM Grade, Signals, S/R, and Predictions for a complete decision loop.

  • Screener Maker (Lightweight Tools):


    • Top-N list with Follow/alert toggles; export CSV.

    • “New this week” and “Graduated” sections for churn/entry dynamics.

  • Community/Content:


    • Weekly digest: new entrants, upgrades, and notable exits—link back to your product pages.

Next Steps

  • Get API Key — generate a key and start free.

  • Run Hello-TM — verify your first successful call.

  • Clone a Template — deploy a screener or alerts bot today.

  • Watch the demo: VIDEO_URL_HERE

  • Compare plans: Scale confidently with API plans.

FAQs

1) What does the Moonshots API return?
A list of breakout candidates with fields such as symbol, tm_grade, signal (often Bullish/Bearish), optional reason tags, and updated_at. Use it to drive discover tabs, alerts, and watchlists.

2) How fresh is the list? What about latency/SLOs?
The endpoint targets predictable latency and timely updates for dashboards and alerts. Use short-TTL caching and queued jobs/webhooks to avoid bursty polling.

3) How do I use Moonshots in a trading workflow?
Common stack: Moonshots for discovery, Trading Signals for timing, Support/Resistance for SL/TP, Quantmetrics for sizing, and Price Prediction for scenario context. Always backtest and paper-trade first.

4) I saw results like “+241%” and a “7.5% average return.” Are these guaranteed?
No. Any historical results are illustrative and not guarantees of future performance. Markets are risky; use risk management and testing.

5) Can I filter the Moonshots list?
Yes—pass parameters like min_grade, signal, and limit (as supported) to tailor to your audience and keep pages fast.

6) Do you provide SDKs or examples?
REST works with JavaScript and Python snippets above. Docs include quickstarts, Postman collections, and templates—start with Run Hello-TM.

7) Pricing, limits, and enterprise SLAs?
Begin free and scale up. See API plans for rate limits and enterprise options.

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Token Metrics API

Support and Resistance API: Auto-Calculate Smart Levels for Better Trades

Sam Monac
5 min
MIN

Most traders still draw lines by hand in TradingView. The support and resistance API from Token Metrics auto-calculates clean support and resistance levels from one request, so your dashboard, bot, or alerts can react instantly. In minutes, you’ll call /v2/resistance-support, render actionable levels for any token, and wire them into stops, targets, or notifications. Start by grabbing your key on Get API Key, then Run Hello-TM and Clone a Template to ship a production-ready feature fast.

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What You’ll Build in 2 Minutes

  • A minimal script that fetches Support/Resistance via /v2/resistance-support for a symbol (e.g., BTC, SOL).

  • A one-liner curl to smoke-test your key.

  • A UI pattern to display nearest support, nearest resistance, level strength, and last updated time.

  • Endpoints to add next: /v2/trading-signals (entries/exits), /v2/hourly-trading-signals (intraday updates), /v2/tm-grade (single-score context), /v2/quantmetrics (risk/return framing).

Why This Matters

Precision beats guesswork. Hand-drawn lines are subjective and slow. The support and resistance API standardizes levels across assets and timeframes, enabling deterministic stops and take-profits your users (and bots) can trust.

Production-ready by design. A simple REST shape, predictable latency, and clear semantics let you add levels to token pages, automate SL/TP alerts, and build rule-based execution with minimal glue code.

Where to Find 

Need the Support and Resistance data? The cURL request for it is in the top right of the API Reference for quick access.

👉 Keep momentum: Get API Key • Run Hello-TM • Clone a Template

Live Demo & Templates

  • SL/TP Alerts Bot (Telegram/Discord): Ping when price approaches or touches a level; include buffer %, link back to your app.

  • Token Page Levels Panel (Dashboard): Show nearest support/resistance with strength badges; color the latest candle by zone.

  • TradingView Overlay Companion: Use levels to annotate charts and label potential entries/exits driven by Trading Signals.

Kick off with our quickstarts—fork a bot or dashboard template, plug your key, and deploy. Confirm your environment by Running Hello-TM. When you’re scaling or need webhooks/limits, review API plans.

How It Works (Under the Hood)

The Support/Resistance endpoint analyzes recent price structure to produce discrete levels above and below current price, along with strength indicators you can use for priority and styling. Query /v2/resistance-support?symbol=<ASSET>&timeframe=<HORIZON> to receive arrays of level objects and timestamps.

Polling vs webhooks. For dashboards, short-TTL caching and batched fetches keep pages snappy. For bots and alerts, use queued jobs or webhooks (where applicable) to avoid noisy, bursty polling—especially around market opens and major events.

Production Checklist

  • Rate limits: Respect plan caps; add client-side throttling.

  • Retries/backoff: Exponential backoff with jitter for 429/5xx; log failures.

  • Idempotency: Make alerting and order logic idempotent to prevent duplicates.

  • Caching: Memory/Redis/KV with short TTLs; pre-warm top symbols.

  • Batching: Fetch multiple assets per cycle; parallelize within rate limits.

  • Threshold logic: Add %-of-price buffers (e.g., alert at 0.3–0.5% from level).

  • Error catalog: Map common 4xx/5xx to actionable user guidance; keep request IDs.

  • Observability: Track p95/p99; measure alert precision (touch vs approach).

  • Security: Store API keys in a secrets manager; rotate regularly.

Use Cases & Patterns

  • Bot Builder (Headless):


    • Use nearest support for stop placement and nearest resistance for profit targets.

    • Combine with /v2/trading-signals for entries/exits and size via Quantmetrics (volatility, drawdown).

  • Dashboard Builder (Product):


    • Add a Levels widget to token pages; badge strength (e.g., High/Med/Low) and show last touch time.

    • Color the price region (below support, between levels, above resistance) for instant context.

  • Screener Maker (Lightweight Tools):


    • “Close to level” sort: highlight tokens within X% of a strong level.

    • Toggle alerts for approach vs breakout events.

  • Risk Management:


    • Create policy rules like “no new long if price is within 0.2% of strong resistance.”

    • Export daily level snapshots for audit/compliance.

Next Steps

  • Get API Key — generate a key and start free.

  • Run Hello-TM — verify your first successful call.

  • Clone a Template — deploy a levels panel or alerts bot today.

  • Watch the demo: VIDEO_URL_HERE

  • Compare plans: Scale confidently with API plans.

FAQs

1) What does the Support & Resistance API return?
A JSON payload with arrays of support and resistance levels for a symbol (and optional timeframe), each with a price and strength indicator, plus an update timestamp.

2) How timely are the levels? What are the latency/SLOs?
The endpoint targets predictable latency suitable for dashboards and alerts. Use short-TTL caching for UIs, and queued jobs or webhooks for alerting to smooth traffic.

3) How do I trigger alerts or trades from levels?
Common patterns: alert when price is within X% of a level, touches a level, or breaks beyond with confirmation. Always make downstream actions idempotent and respect rate limits.

4) Can I combine levels with other endpoints?
Yes—pair with /v2/trading-signals for timing, /v2/tm-grade for quality context, and /v2/quantmetrics for risk sizing. This yields a complete decide-plan-execute loop.

5) Which timeframe should I use?
Intraday bots prefer shorter horizons; swing/position dashboards use daily or higher-timeframe levels. Offer a timeframe toggle and cache results per setting.

6) Do you provide SDKs or examples?
Use the REST snippets above (JS/Python). The docs include quickstarts, Postman collections, and templates—start with Run Hello-TM.

7) Pricing, limits, and enterprise SLAs?
Begin free and scale as you grow. See API plans for rate limits and enterprise SLA options.

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