Cryptocurrency Price Tracker Python – Real – Time Project

pip install requests matplotlib

import requests
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import datetime

COINGECKO_API_URL = "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3"
headers = {"accept": "application/json"}

def get_crypto_price(crypto_symbol):
    response = requests.get(
        f"{COINGECKO_API_URL}/simple/price",
        params={
            'ids': crypto_symbol,
            'vs_currencies': 'inr',
            'include_24hr_change': 'true'
        },
        headers=headers
    )

    if response.status_code == 200:
        data = response.json()
        if crypto_symbol in data:
            price = data[crypto_symbol]['inr']
            change = data[crypto_symbol]['inr_24h_change']
            return price, change
        else:
            raise ValueError("Cryptocurrency not found")
    else:
        raise Exception("API request failed")

def get_historical_data(crypto_symbol, days):
    response = requests.get(
        f"{COINGECKO_API_URL}/coins/{crypto_symbol}/market_chart",
        params={'vs_currency': 'inr', 'days': days}
    )

    if response.status_code == 200:
        return response.json()['prices']
    else:
        raise Exception("Failed to fetch historical data")

def plot_historical_data(historical_data, crypto_symbol):
    dates = [
        datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(item[0] / 1000)
        for item in historical_data
    ]
    prices = [item[1] for item in historical_data]

    plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
    plt.plot(dates, prices, color='blue')
    plt.title(f"{crypto_symbol.capitalize()} Price History")
    plt.xlabel("Date")
    plt.ylabel("Price (INR)")
    plt.xticks(rotation=45)
    plt.grid(True)
    plt.tight_layout()
    plt.show()

def main():
    crypto = input("Enter cryptocurrency name (eg. bitcoin): ").lower()

    try:
        price, change = get_crypto_price(crypto)
        print(f"Current Price: ₹{price}")
        print(f"24-hour Change: {change:.2f}%")
    except Exception as e:
        print("Error:", e)
        return

    while True:
        try:
            days = int(input("Enter number of days: "))
            if days <= 0:
                raise ValueError
            break
        except ValueError:
            print("Please enter a valid number.")

    historical_data = get_historical_data(crypto, days)
    plot_historical_data(historical_data, crypto)

main()

Step-by-Step Code Explanation for Cryptocurrency Price Tracker Python

In this section, we will understand the codeslowly and clearly.
I will explainwhy each important line is writtenandwhat exactly it does.

Don’t rush. Read it like a story.

1. Importing Python Libraries for Cryptocurrency Price Tracker

import requests

What this line does:
This line imports therequestslibrary.

Why we need it:
Our program needs to talk to the CoinGecko website and ask for crypto prices.
requestshelps Pythonsend requests to the internetandreceive data back.

Without this library, Python cannot fetch online data.

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

What this line does:
This imports the graph‑drawing tool from thematplotliblibrary.

Why we need it:
We want todraw a price graphfor the cryptocurrency history.
pltis just a short name that makes the code easier to write and read.

import datetime

What this line does:
This imports thedatetimemodule.

Why we need it:
CoinGecko sends time intimestamp format, which looks like a big number.
datetimeconverts that number intohuman‑readable dateslike:

2024‑05‑10

2. API URL and Headers

COINGECKO_API_URL = "https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3"

What this line does:
Stores the base URL of the CoinGecko API in a variable.

Why do we do this:
Instead of writing the full URL again and again, we store it once.
This makes the codecleanandeasy to update.

headers = {"accept": "application/json"}

What this line does:
Tells CoinGecko that we want the response inJSON format.

Why this is important:
JSON is easy for Python to understand and convert into dictionaries.

3. Getting Real‑Time Cryptocurrency Price

def get_crypto_price(crypto_symbol):

What this line does:
Creates a function namedget_crypto_price.

What is a function?
A function is a block of code that performs a task and can be reused.

Here:
This function will fetch thecurrent priceand24‑hour changeof a crypto.

response = requests.get(

What this line does:
Sends a GET request to the internet.

In simple words:
Python is saying:

“Hey CoinGecko, please send me the crypto price data.”

'ids': crypto_symbol

What this line does:
Tells the APIwhich cryptocurrencywe want.

Example:

• User entersbitcoin
• API fetches data for Bitcoin

'vs_currencies': 'inr'

What this line does:
Tells the API that we want the price inIndian Rupees (INR).

You can change it to:

• ‘usd’for US Dollars
• ‘eur’for Euro

'include_24hr_change': 'true'

What this line does:
Asks the API to include24‑hour price change percentage.

This helps users know if the price went up or down.

if response.status_code == 200:

What this line does:
Checks if the API request was successful.

Why 200?
200means:
Everything worked fine
Any other number means an error

data = response.json()

What this line does:
Converts the API response into a Python dictionary.

Now we can access data like:

data['bitcoin']['inr']

price = data[crypto_symbol]['inr']

What this line does:
Extracts thecurrent pricefrom the API data.

change = data[crypto_symbol]['inr_24h_change']

What this line does:
Extracts the24‑hour price change percentage.

return price, change

What this line does:
Sends the price and change back to the main program.

Python allows returningmultiple valuesat once.

4. Fetching Historical Crypto Price Data Using Python

def get_historical_data(crypto_symbol, days):

What this line does:
Creates a function to fetchpast price data.

• crypto_symbol→ crypto name
• days→ how many days of data

'vs_currency': 'inr'

What this line does:
Tells the API to return prices in INR.

'days': days

What this line does:
Defines the time range for historical data.

Example:

• 7 – last 7 days
• 30 – last 30 days

return response.json()['prices']

What this line does:
Returns only theprice listfrom the API response.

Each price entry contains:

[timestamp, price]

5. Plotting Cryptocurrency Price Graph Using Python

datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(item[0] / 1000)

What this line does:
Converts a timestamp into a readable date.

Why divide by 1000?
CoinGecko gives time inmilliseconds, but Python expectsseconds.

prices = [item[1] for item in historical_data]

What this line does:
Extracts only the price values from the data.

plt.plot(dates, prices)

What this line does:
Draws the price line on the graph.

• X‑axis – dates
• Y‑axis – prices

plt.title(...)

What this line does:
Adds a title to the graph.

plt.show()

What this line does:
Displays the graph on the screen.

Without this line, the graph will not appear.

6. Main Program Flow

crypto = input().lower()

What this line does:
Takes user input and converts it to lowercase.

Why?
SoBitcoin,bitcoin, andBITCOINall work.

while True:

What this line does:
Creates a loop that keeps running until the correct input is given.

days = int(input())

What this line does:
Converts user input into a number.

If the user enters text, Python throws an error, which we handle.

main()

What this line does:
Starts the entire program.

Without this line, nothing will run.

To improve your data – handling skills further, check out our Python web scraping tutorial, where we explain how to extract data from websites step by step.

If you are new to Python, the Python official documentation is a great place to understand core concepts.

Link – Python official documentation