Welcome to the CurrencyBeacon API documentation. We provide a simple yet powerful RESTful interface for accessing real-time and historical exchange rates for over 168 world currencies and more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies.

Why use CurrencyBeacon?

Our API is built for developers who need accuracy and reliability. We aggregate data from multiple commercial sources and banks to ensure our rates are precise. Whether you are building a fintech application, an e-commerce store, or an investment dashboard, our API delivers the data you need in a lightweight JSON format.

• Spot Exchange Rates: Real-time data updated every minute.
• Historical Data: Access rates dating back to 1996.
• Bank-Level Security: All endpoints are secured via 256-bit SSL encryption.

CurrencyBeacon uses API keys to allow access to the API. You can register a new API key at our developer portal. Authentication is required for all API requests.

Passing the API Key

We support two methods for passing your API key. We recommend using the Query Parameter method for simplicity during development, but the HTTP Header method is cleaner for production applications.

https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/latest?api_key=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

GET /v1/latest HTTP/1.1
Host: api.currencybeacon.com
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

Latest Exchange Rates

Returns real-time exchange rate data for all available currencies. The data is updated based on your subscription plan frequency (e.g., every 60 seconds).

Request Parameters

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/latest?api_key=YOUR_KEY&base=USD&symbols=EUR,GBP"

Example Response

{
    "meta": {
        "code": 200,
        "disclaimer": "Usage subject to terms: https://currencybeacon.com/terms"
    },
    "response": {
        "date": "2024-03-15T14:30:00Z",
        "base": "USD",
        "rates": {
            "EUR": 0.9184,
            "GBP": 0.7842
        }
    }
}

Historical Rates

Retrieve historical exchange rates for any specific date in the past. Our database goes back to January 1, 1996. This is useful for auditing, accounting, and trend analysis.

Request Parameters

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/historical?api_key=YOUR_KEY&base=USD&date=2023-12-25"

Currency Conversion

The convert endpoint allows you to convert any amount from one currency to another using real-time mid-market exchange rates. This endpoint performs the calculation for you on the server side.

Request Parameters

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/convert?api_key=YOUR_KEY&from=USD&to=GBP&amount=100"

Example Response

{
    "meta": { "code": 200, "disclaimer": "..." },
    "response": {
        "timestamp": 1710515400,
        "date": "2024-03-15",
        "from": "USD",
        "to": "GBP",
        "amount": 100,
        "value": 78.42
    }
}

Time-Series Data

The time-series endpoint returns daily historical exchange rates between two specified dates. This is designed for plotting charts or analyzing volatility over time. *Available on Startup and Pro plans only.

Request Parameters

Supported Currencies

Returns a list of all supported currencies, including their full names, symbols, and ISO codes. Use this to dynamically populate dropdowns in your UI.

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://api.currencybeacon.com/v1/currencies?api_key=YOUR_KEY"

The API uses standard HTTP response codes to indicate the success or failure of an API request. In general: codes in the 2xx range indicate success. Codes in the 4xx range indicate an error that failed given the information provided (e.g., a required parameter was omitted, or the API key is invalid). Codes in the 5xx range indicate an error with our servers.