Crypto Giggle
If you’re like most of us, you spend way too much time refreshing your portfolio or the entire market itself. When you need information on the crypto market or maybe a potential new project, odds are you start your journey at either CoinMarketCap.com or CoinGecko.com.
Just a few years ago CoinMarketCap was the go-to site for market/project information, but lately CoinGecko has made this thing into a two man race. So what changed? Which site should you choose for your precious research or excessive “refreshing?
All good questions and obviously you have the right to use both platforms, but this article will take a look at the pros and cons of both websites.
Contents
#1 About CoinMarketCap
First launched in 2013, CMC was one of the first crypto aggregate sites, featuring project listings on hundreds (now thousands) of assets, which includes price, website info, market cap, socials and more. Everything you need to start you research.
If you weren't around the crypto space back in 2013, you may not know just how hard it was to find trustworthy data regarding crypto projects. CoinMarketCap gave us the ability to explore new projects and keep our finger on the entire pulse of the market. For that we will always be thankful.
In the nearly ten years since then, the site has continued to flourish and has also seen some changes with the addition of API access and mobile apps.
#2 CoinMarketCap acquired by Binance – can they stay unbiased?
In early 2020 Binance (one of the world's largest crypto exchanges) acquired CoinMarketCap for a reported massive sum.
Why does this matter?
Many have speculated and even laid accusations that CMC is not able to remain unbiased after this acquisition. Posing that, if you control the data on the worlds most visited crypto site, you could very well steer visitors to the projects you are invested in and the exchanges you own. It is not necessarily a reason to stay away from CMC, but it is something to keep in the back of your mind when using this or any exchange; always ask yourself, "could there be bias?".
Now we aren't yet on-board with the anti-Binance sentiment that seems to be spreading through Reddit, so let's focus on some of the provable stuff.
Right now, the CoinMarketCap API is premium only. So if you are building an APP or platform that pulls mass data, using CMC will cost you.
According to GTMetrix - CoinMarketCap loads slightly faster than CoinGecko, so if you are chasing seconds CMC may be the best play.
#3 CoinGecko – Pledging to stay independent?
CoinGecko launched in 2014, but really started to gain steam in the last 3-4 year or so. Offering nearly identical data points as CMC with a different layout, CoinGecko currently sports 200 million monthly page views, a staff of 30+ employees and touts itself as the world's largest independent source of reliable crypto data.
But you may not know that CoinGecko was started with just $100 in capital and a two man team. Pretty impressive!
Don't Miss: CoinGecko was recently celebrated as joining the top 500 most visited sites in the world
Additionally, as of right now their powerful market data API is free to use and leverage at your hearts desire.
CoinGecko has also gone on record committing itself to being neutral, unbiased and independent.
In fact, after CoinMarketCap was acquired by Binance, CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong was quoted as saying, “We have resisted taking external funds as we value our independence,” “With the reaction of the crypto community post-Binance acquisition, our stand to stay independent seems to have been appreciated by the community. Being a neutral entity is a key factor for the crypto community as the community demands neutrality in the data space.”
#4 CoinGecko Candy – nom nom nom
In 2020 CoinGecko announced the introduction of their "candy", a reward system to incentive visitors to use their platform and earn rewards.
You can collect CG candies by creating a free account and using their website or app like you normally do.
From CoinGecko's site:
The main purpose of CoinGecko Candy is to exchange them for Rewards – there are many possibilities here, and we’re only just getting started.
As of right now you can redeem your candies towards their store vouches, limited editions NFTs, books and more.
See more HERE
*note* CoinMarketCap is in the process of rolling out a reward system of their own, details should start to materialize soon HERE.
#5 Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, both platforms offer the same important data points and if you utilize an ad-blocker, any pesky ad positions or pop-ups are irrelevant.
If you need a free API, the choice is made for you (CoinGecko). If not...
That being said, we recommend forcing yourself to use both websites for a week and then see which one you find yourself organically turning to. Your muscle memory should make the decision for you.
If you truly need a tie breaker, then keep in mind that one site has avoided external funding and outside influence while pledging to stay neutral* and the other is owned by one the largest exchanges in the world.
*Anyone can claim neutrality, but as of right now CoinGecko has been able to avoid any scandals.
