How to Use CoinMarketCap: 17 Must-Know Tips [2023 Tutorial]

Understanding how to read global market metrics is the first step in learning how to use CoinMarketCap.

Upon landing on CoinMarketCap.com, you will see some global metrics towards the top of the homepage. Seeing these metrics at a glance is super convenient to gain a rough vibe for the status of the market.

These metrics include:

• The total number of cryptocurrencies listed on CMC
• The total number of markets (and their rankings if you click on them)
• Global market cap

  Market Cap

  The total value of a cryptocurrency. Calculated by multiplying a coin’s price by its total supply.

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  of the entire cryptocurrency industry. This statistic helps to keep track of how much money is flowing in or out of the ecosystem. And if you click on this statistic, you will see graphical views of the data.
• Total 24-hour volume

  Trade Volume

  A measure of how frequently and how heavily a cryptocurrency is bought and/or sold during a given time period.

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  transacted across all exchanges for all the cryptocurrencies listed.
• Bitcoin dominance - calculated as (Bitcoin’s market cap / Total market cap). If Bitcoin’s dominance decreases, it means other cryptocurrencies have been gaining an increasing amount of attention from investors, compared to Bitcoin. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin represents 50% of the market.

If you click on a coin, you will be taken to that individual coin’s dashboard where you can view some of its basic metrics, including:

• Market capitalization

  Market Cap

  The total value of a cryptocurrency. Calculated by multiplying a coin’s price by its total supply.

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• Trading volume

  Trade Volume

  A measure of how frequently and how heavily a cryptocurrency is bought and/or sold during a given time period.

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• Price (in US dollars, BTC and sometimes ETH)
• Circulating

  Circulation

  Free movement of coins between individuals.

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  , Total

  Total Coin Supply

  A measure that describes how many coins of a given cryptocurrency can exist (after all mining is completed, if applicable).

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  and Maximum supplies when available
• Chart data

CoinMarketCap has reliable integrations with exchanges and coins, bringing in consistent and accurate data. I’ve grown to trust their architecture over the many years being in the industry.

This may seem silly, but trust me when I say that not everyone can pull in normalized, accurate data from hundreds of exchanges and for thousands of coins.

Yes, not every coin in the world is listed on CoinMarketCap, but thousands are.

And you can search any of them by typing the coin’s name or ticker (i.e. BTC for Bitcoin) in the search bar in the upper right.

Having the ability to research thousands of coins from one place saves a ton of headache.

Tip: You can also search for exchanges

Graph data is particularly useful. Not only does if give you a visual view of the data, but it also lets you get as granular as you want when analyzing current and historical pricing data.

To find the graph data, scroll down a little once you land on a coin’s dashboard - you can’t miss it.

When using their graphing functionality, you can:

• Change the date. You can select a time period (1y, 3m, 1m, 7d, 1d) to view historically, or manually adjust a time-frame
• View prices in USD, BTC, and ETH (depending on the coin)
• Include/exclude the market cap

  Market Cap

  The total value of a cryptocurrency. Calculated by multiplying a coin’s price by its total supply.

  View full glossary
  and the 24-hour volume
• View linear or log graphs. The linear view is easier to read - better if you’re just starting, but the log graph can give you a more accurate overview.

When you click on a coin and enter its dashboard, you can find a lot of useful links, such as:

• The official website
• The best blockchain explorers

  Block Explorer

  Websites (available for most cryptocurrencies) that allow users to search an address or transaction ID to view its details.

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  available
• Whitepapers

  White Paper

  A technical document that outlines a project’s features, technology, and vision.

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• Communities (i.e. forums, Telegram/Discord groups, etc.)
• Technical documentation
• Whether it’s a coin or a token
• Whether it’s mineable

  Mining

  The process by which new coins are created as transactions on a network are verified.

  View full glossary
  or not

The links provided on CoinMarketCap are particularly trustworthy. Check out point #9 of this CoinMarketCap tutorial to find out the importance of this.

Liquidity

You can view the top 100 exchanges by volume (check the adjusted volume for more accurate information) and more.

To reach this page by yourself, select the “exchanges” tab, next to “cryptocurrencies,” on the homepage.

After searching through different exchanges, you can click on one for deeper insights. You’ll be taken to the exchange’s dashboard, where you’ll find  useful links such as:

• The official website
• Support
• Social media pages

You’ll also be able to view all of the possible trading pairs listed on the exchange, from one place!

Just learned about a new coin, but don’t know where to buy it?

Once again, CoinMarketCap can help you. This is an under-used feature that I want to emphasize in this CoinMarketCap tutorial.

To find all the exchanges to buy a given coin, simply:

1. Search for the coin
2. Click on the market tab, and you’ll see all exchanges and trading pairs
3. Check prices and select the most interesting one for you.

So many times, I see people entering Telegram and Discord groups (known to have many deceptive scammers) asking where to buy a coin when they can easily find out on CoinMarketCap.

Note: Always check the reputation of the exchange before proceeding.

The crypto world is full of phishing scams

Imagine thinking you are registering on a real exchange, but instead, it is fake. Well, you just gave your credentials to a hacker, and your funds will most likely be stolen if you transfer crypto to the exchange.

To avoid this, here is one of the most precious tips I will provide in this CoinMarketCap tutorial:Find sensitive links via CoinMarketCap as often as possible - that includes coins’ and exchanges’ official websites.

CoinMarketCap has never been hacked or exposed users to fake links, so I’ve gained to trust them as the most reliable source of links to information.

On CoinMarketCap, you can create your watchlist without even making an account!

A watchlist lets you list coins that are of particular interest to you, so that you can keep an eye on their progression. This way, when you visit CoinMarketCap, instead of being overwhelmed by a list of 1,000+ coins, you can go to your watchlist and track the coins that matter to you.

To add a coin to your watchlist, visit the coin’s dashboard and click on the star that says “watch” under the main pricing information. You can also do it directly from the coin’s list by clicking on the “...” icon beside each coin.

Once you have added a few coins, you can navigate back to the watchlist tab without having to log in.

CoinMarketCap allows you to view the biggest gainers and losers in the market in terms of price action.

For example, if you see a coin you never heard of towards the top of the list, with significant volume

I don’t recommend buying a coin at the top, as this is a mistake more often than not. But if it’s only the first leg up, then it may be good to keep an eye on it.

This is a fun one. CoinMarketCap offers a conversion tool which allows you to see how much you own of one asset, in terms of some other asset, whether it’s fiat or cryptocurrency.

Want to attend local events in your area? CoinMarketCap has an impressive list of upcoming cryptocurrency events and conferences.

I have personally gone to local events in my area, and they are excellent for networking and learning. I meet people daily online, but forming relationships in person at these events is best above all else.

If you want to really know how to use CoinMarketCap for all it has to offer, then starting thinking about historical data. You can use historical data to backtest trading strategies or view historical trends in a clean way.

Historical data is usually difficult to find, and some people pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to get their hands on reliable historical data.

Fortunately, CoinMarketCap has an excellent way to view historical data. While it’s not as granular as tick data, you can view daily prices, volume

To access a coin’s historical data, go to the coin’s dashboard, and select the “Historical Data” tab to the right.

This feature is super cool. It allows you to have an overview of how the cryptocurrency market looked at a specific date of the past.

You can select say, September 18, 2016, and see what all of the coins’ prices and market caps were back then. Sometimes, it will make your stomach drop seeing how far we have come!

To access historical snapshot data, navigate to “Tools” on the top navbar, and then select “Historical Snapshots.” The feature is available for dates starting from April 28, 2013.

I’ll admit it; I’m a geek. I like to backtest trading strategies and to do that, I need historical data. I also like to pull market data into an excel sheet so I can view my portfolio value, and update them often.

To do that, CoinMarketCap offers an excellent API. There is also considerable documentation that explains how to use CoinMarketCap’s API so you can begin pulling in data. All for free.

They also have a premium plan which allows for extremely granular tick data. The API is one of the most sophisticated tools mentioned in this CoinMarketCap tutorial, but if you don’t mind getting a bit technical, it can prove to be very useful.

To get to the API page by yourself, scroll down the page until the bottom and find the link in the footer.

Yep, CoinMarketCap has a blog! You can access it by clicking on “blog” towards the top of their homepage.

Their blog is split up into different sections such as analysis, interviews, education, product announcements, and more.

CoinMarketCap STILL has many more functionalities. Their offering seems virtually endless. But, no one can be the best at everything.

They also offer:

• A glossary. But compare it with our glossary, I bet you’ll see quite a difference.  
• An ‘Intro to Crypto.’ But since cryptocurrency education is our thing, I’m sure you’ll agree you don’t need CoinMarketCap to educate yourself!

If you still feel CoinMarketCap is not enough for you and you deserve more (I’m sure you do!), here are two alternatives that I highly recommend checking out.
 

OnchainFX

OnChainFX, now a Messari brand, is an excellent CoinMarketCap alternative. With OnChainFX you can still search through nearly all the coins you desire, while also being exposed to unique statistics such as:

• A coin’s age
• Yearly ROI for a given year
• The expected supply of a coin in the year 2050
• Specialized indexes (generally of the top 10 largest crypto assets)
• Even coins labeled as “memes” such as Dogecoin!
• And more.

OnChainFX is run by Ryan Selkis, formerly a lead at CoinDesk and Digital Currency Group.

Coincheckup

Coincheckup is an interesting CoinMarketCap alternative. They show the typical statistics you would expect, in addition to fundamental analysis

You can check them out under the “analysis” tab at the top of their homepage. They also provide ICO

Well, that wraps up our CoinMarketCap Tutorial. If you took your time going through this guide, then congratulations! You now know how to use CoinMarketCap as an expert. So let me personally welcome you to the CoinMarketCap Pro Club ;-)