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Kraken Trades

Cryptocurrency API · Works globally · Kraken Exchange · 50+ trading pairs

TL;DR

The Kraken Exchange public API provides real-time market data for 50+ cryptocurrency trading pairs. Access ticker prices (last, high, low, volume, VWAP), order book depth with customizable levels, OHLC (Open/High/Low/Close) chart data across 9 timeframes, and recent trade history with pagination. The API returns JSON responses for pairs like XBT/USD, ETH/USD, SOL/USD, ADA/USD, and many altcoin pairs. Kraken is one of the oldest and most reputable exchanges, founded in 2011, known for its liquidity and extensive pair offerings. Public endpoints require no authentication.

Quick start: https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD

No API key needed — just make a request!

How to Use This API

1. Get BTC/USD Ticker

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD

Note: Kraken uses XBT for Bitcoin, not BTC. Returns ask, bid, last, volume, VWAP, and more.

2. Get ETH/USD Ticker

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=ETHUSD

3. Get Multiple Pairs at Once

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD,ETHUSD,SOLUSD

4. Get Order Book (Market Depth)

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Depth?pair=XBTUSD&count=10

count controls how many price levels to return (default 10, max 500).

5. Get OHLC Data (Candlestick)

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/OHLC?pair=XBTUSD&interval=60

interval in minutes: 1, 5, 15, 30, 60, 240, 1440, 10080, 21600.

6. Get Recent Trades

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Trades?pair=XBTUSD
https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Trades?pair=XBTUSD&since=1718563200

since parameter provides Unix timestamp pagination.

7. List All Tradable Asset Pairs

https://api.kraken.com/0/public/AssetPairs

Returns complete list of 50+ pairs with details like min order size, price precision, and leverage.

8. Response Format

{
  "error": [],
  "result": {
    "XXBTZUSD": {
      "a": ["67200.00000", "1", "1.000"],
      "b": ["67150.00000", "3", "3.000"],
      "c": ["67180.00000", "0.50000000"],
      "h": ["69000.00000", "69000.00000"],
      "l": ["65000.00000", "65000.00000"],
      "v": ["1234.56", "5678.90"],
      "p": ["67800.000", "67500.000"],
      "t": [12345, 67890]
    }
  }
}

Kraken uses arrays where: a=ask, b=bid, c=last close, h=high, l=low, v=volume, p=VWAP, t=trades. Each array: [price, whole lot volume, lot volume].

9. JavaScript — Fetch and Parse Ticker

fetch('https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD')
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(d => {
    const t = d.result.XXBTZUSD;
    console.log(`BTC/USD:`);
    console.log(`  Last: \$${parseFloat(t.c[0]).toFixed(2)}`);
    console.log(`  Bid: \$${parseFloat(t.b[0]).toFixed(2)}`);
    console.log(`  Ask: \$${parseFloat(t.a[0]).toFixed(2)}`);
    console.log(`  24h High: \$${parseFloat(t.h[1]).toFixed(2)}`);
    console.log(`  24h Low: \$${parseFloat(t.l[1]).toFixed(2)}`);
    console.log(`  Volume: ${parseFloat(t.v[1]).toFixed(2)} XBT`);
  });

10. Python — Get OHLC for Charting

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    'https://api.kraken.com/0/public/OHLC',
    params={'pair': 'ETHUSD', 'interval': 1440}
)
data = resp.json()['result']['ETHUSD']
print("Daily OHLC for ETH/USD:")
for candle in data[-5:]:
    timestamp, open_, high, low, close, vwap, volume, count = candle
    print(f"  Close: {close}, High: {high}, Low: {low}")

11. Python — Calculate VWAP from Ticker

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    'https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD,ETHUSD'
)
for pair, data in resp.json()['result'].items():
    last = float(data['c'][0])
    vwap = float(data['p'][1])
    vol = float(data['v'][1])
    print(f"{pair}: \${last:.2f} (VWAP: \${vwap:.2f}, Vol: {vol:.2f})")
Try it: https://api.kraken.com/0/public/Ticker?pair=XBTUSD
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Frequently Asked Questions

What trading pairs are available on Kraken?
Use https://api.kraken.com/0/public/AssetPairs to list all 50+ pairs. Common ones: XBTUSD (Bitcoin), ETHUSD (Ethereum), SOLUSD (Solana), ADAUSD (Cardano), DOTUSD (Polkadot), LINKUSD (Chainlink), XRPUSD (Ripple), UNIUSD (Uniswap), MATICUSD (Polygon), and DOGEUSD (Dogecoin). Note Kraken uses XBT not BTC.
What does the ticker response include?
Ask (a), bid (b), last close (c), volume (v) — today and last 24h, VWAP (p), number of trades (t), low (l), high (h), and opening price (o). Each field is an array with specific sub-values.
What time intervals does the OHLC endpoint support?
1, 5, 15, 30, 60, 240 (4h), 1440 (1d), 10080 (1w), and 21600 (15d) minutes. The last field in the response provides the ID to poll for new data.
How do I get recent trade history?
Use /0/public/Trades?pair=XBTUSD with optional since parameter (Unix timestamp) for pagination. Each trade record contains: price, volume, timestamp, buy/sell flag, market/limit flag, and miscellaneous info.
Why does Kraken use XBT instead of BTC?
Kraken uses XBT as the ISO 4217-compatible code for Bitcoin (similar to USD, EUR, etc.). BTC is technically not an ISO standard code. Most API responses use XBT, though some newer endpoints may accept BTC as well.
Are there rate limits on the public API?
Kraken's public API is rate-limited but generously so. The general limit is approximately 1 request per second per IP. For higher frequency needs, spread requests across multiple endpoints or use the WebSocket API.

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