WHAT IS COINMARKETCAP?

Started in 2013, www.coinmarketcap.com is a price-tracking and information website for cryptocurrency assets. It is an absolute wealth of information for both beginners and seasoned veterans alike. If you are looking for accurate, timely and unbiased information then coinmarketcap should be your first stop. In this Beginner’s Guide , we will look at exactly what is coinmarketcap. We will also explore some of the useful information that can be gathered from this great crypto tool.

WHAT INFORMATION CAN I FIND?

If you have some spare time, then Coinmarketcap is a great website to spend a few hours. You can learn a lot from trawling through the vast amount of information that is available. We won’t attempt to cover it all , but will point out a few of the most useful features that make coinmarketcap one of the best crypto tools available.

1. OVERALL CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET SUMMARY

At the top of the page you will find some useful data reflecting the current state of the crypto market. Here you will find the total number of cryptocurrency coins/tokens (as tracked by CMC), the total number of cryptocurrency exchanges, the total marketcap of the entire cryptocurrency industry (we will talk more about marketcap later), the 24 hour trading volume recorded across all cryptocurrency exchanges, and the dominance or market share of the two biggest cryptocurrencies – in this case Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

2. CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

In the Highlights section there is timely data related to what is happening right now within the markets. Firstly TRENDING shows you the coins which people are searching for on the site. This is a good indicator for broader market sentiment. Next, you will see the BIGGEST GAINERS and this shows the cryptocurrencies with over US$50,000 trading volume which have gained the most in the last twenty-four hours. If you click on the link you will also be taken to a page to see the BIGGEST LOSERS. Finally, you will see a column for RECENTLY ADDED coins & tokens, this can be very useful if you are looking to get in early on a project.

3. CRYPTOCURRENCY COIN RANKINGS

Now we are getting to the good stuff. Here, you will find all the cryptocurrency coins and tokens listed in order from 1 to 19388 (at the time of writing) as per their market capitalization. We’ll go into more details on this in just a moment, but you will notice Bitcoin (BTC) is number one followed by Ethereum (ETH).

4. INDIVIDUAL CRYPTOCURRENCY COIN DATA

Beside each particular coin on the page you will find some important data for it. For Example with Bitcoin (BTC), you can see the current price (this is the mean average taken across exchanges). Also, the price movement for the last 24 hours and 7 days – this indicates the short-term trend of the coin price. Next you will see the Market Capitalization – the MARKETCAP of any coin or token is the total market value of the circulating supply of a cryptocurrency. It is equal to the current price of the cryptocurrency times the circulating supply of that currency. The next figure shows the CIRCULATING SUPPLY. It is important to check the difference between the circulating supply and total supply as this may have future implications on the price.

5. MORE DETAILED CRYPTOCURRENCY COIN DATA

If you CLICK on any coin on the homepage of COINMARKETCAP, then you will get taken to another dedicated page to that particular cryptocurrency. Here you will see some of the same information as mentioned previously, but also some great links to continue your research further. Firstly, towards the top left of the page you will see the official link to the project’s website, block explorer, source code and the whitepaper. This accurate information is often difficult to find with a simple google search due to the amounts of scammers providing false phishing links. You can be assured that the information on COINMARKETCAP will take you to the right place.

Next to Overview, there is a tab titled MARKET. This show where a cryptocurrency is trading and at what price and trading pairs. This tab is very useful, to know where smaller or new projects can be found. We are often asked where to buy altcoins, and this is the first place you should look for the answer. The MARKET tab will show all exchanges and trading pairs for a coin or token.

Here, you can see each exchange that is currently trading the coin or token. You also have other useful metrics such as price and volume.

There is much more to be gleamed from this wonderful resource that is www.coinmarketcap.com. However, we feel that we have covered the most important features for any beginner to cryptocurrency. You can learn more about www.coinmarketcap.com from their official YouTube channel.

GOOD LUCK !

If you enjoyed this guide about what is coinmarketcap, then you may also be interested in some of our other beginner’s guides to cryptocurrency, including GETTING STARTED – 3 CRYPTO RISKSE EVERY USER MUST KNOW.