CoinMarketCap
Best for documentation-led evaluation
How it rates
- Service reachable without an account
- Documentation or FAQ published
- Terms not found at a conventional public address
- Corporate entity not established from public sources
Each indicator scores 2, 1 or 0. A pillar is the points earned over the points available; the overall score is the weighted sum. Every source below is public — check any of them yourself.
- Met
- Not metTerms and conditions published
Not found at a conventional address at this check.
- Met
- PartialOperator identifiable from published material
Service published under its own domain; corporate entity not established at this check.
coinmarketcap.com/ - PartialNo custody of user funds claimed in this assessment
Custody arrangements are not verifiable from the desk and are not scored.
coinmarketcap.com/
- Met
- Met
- PartialRates displayed publicly
Page reachable; specific rates not captured at this check.
coinmarketcap.com/api/pricing/ - Not metTerms describe charges
Not found at this check.
- Met
- Met
- Met
- Not metTerms published
Not found.
- Met
- Not metOperator entity disclosed
Not established from public sources at this check.
- Met
- Not metTerms documentation published
Not found.
- Met
- Not metCorporate entity identifiable
Not established from public sources at this check.
- Not metRegulatory status published
Not established from public sources at this check.
- Met
- Met
- Not metTerms reachable
Not found.
- Met
- Met
The most widely used free reference for crypto prices, market capitalisation and exchange volume, owned by Binance since 2020.
Our assessment
CoinMarketCap is the default price reference for most of the crypto industry: market capitalisation, volume, supply figures and exchange rankings, free and without an account. It has been owned by Binance since 2020, which is the first thing a reader should know about it.
Ownership shapes what a ranking means
An exchange owning the industry's most-read exchange ranking is a structural conflict, whatever the editorial practice. It does not make the data wrong, and it does mean a careful reader cross-checks exchange rankings against an independently owned source before drawing conclusions about which venue is largest or most trustworthy.
Where the numbers come from
Volume and price are aggregated from exchange-reported data, and reported volume has a long history of being inflated by venues with an incentive to look liquid. Supply figures depend on issuer disclosure. The headline market capitalisation of a thinly traded token is the last price multiplied by a supply number, which is a smaller claim than it appears.
Free, and priced accordingly
Access costs nothing, which is the correct price for a reference dataset and the reason it is universal. Paid API tiers exist for programmatic use. Our cost pillar rewards published pricing, and eight indicators here found nothing retrievable at conventional addresses.
Who it suits
CoinMarketCap fits anyone who needs a quick price or supply figure, which is nearly everyone. For exchange comparison, read it alongside an independently owned dataset; for on-chain analysis, it is the wrong tool entirely.
Frequently asked
Does this score mean CoinMarketCap is trustworthy?
No. It measures what is published and reachable before use: the service, its terms and its documentation. Custody, routing and corporate structure are not tested by us.
Why do all providers score zero on corporate entity?
Because this class of service rarely publishes it. The indicator is identical for every provider in the category, so the comparison stays fair.
Are rates or spreads compared here?
No. Verifying quoted rates requires live transactions, which we do not perform. The rubric covers disclosure, not execution.