FAQ
Bitcoin API FAQ, answered
What a Bitcoin API is, where the on-chain data comes from, whether it is real-time, how SQL access and rate limits work, whether you need a node, and how compliance is handled. The things teams ask before they build on BitcoinDatabase.
The basics
A Bitcoin API is a service you call to read data from the Bitcoin blockchain without running your own node. Instead of syncing and indexing the chain yourself, you make one request and BitcoinDatabase returns an address balance, a transaction, a block, UTXOs or an on-chain metric as typed JSON. We index every block since the 2009 genesis and keep it current. This is informational on-chain data only, not financial or legal advice.
The data comes straight from the Bitcoin blockchain. We index every block since the 2009 genesis and reconcile block by block against the canonical chain, so balances are exact to the satoshi and transactions carry their real inputs, outputs and confirmations. If the chain reorganizes, our index follows it.
It is close to real-time. New blocks are indexed within seconds of confirmation, and mempool data is available, so you can see unconfirmed activity as well as the confirmed chain.
All the way to the start. Every block since the 2009 genesis block is indexed, so you can page through the full history of any address, transaction or metric without gaps.
No. BitcoinDatabase indexes and maintains the whole chain for you, so address, transaction, balance, block and UTXO queries are simple REST calls or SQL. There is no node, indexer or ETL pipeline to operate.
Building with it
Authenticate with a bearer key and call the REST API from any language, or use the official Python and JavaScript SDKs. You can also subscribe to webhooks so your app reacts when a watched address or transaction changes. The docs page lists every endpoint with code samples.
Yes, from the Growth plan and up. SQL access lets your analysts write their own queries and joins against the indexed chain, move from a dashboard to the underlying rows, and reproduce any number on the desk. Bulk CSV export is available on higher tiers.
Rate limits scale with your plan, from 10 requests per second on Developer up to 250 on Scale, with monthly API credits per tier. Each call costs credits by type, so a simple address lookup is cheap and a heavier SQL query or metric series costs more. The pricing page has the full breakdown.
No free plan. BitcoinDatabase is a paid, usage-based product starting at $49 a month on the Developer plan. You can try the live Query Console on the site to see exactly what the API returns before you sign up.
Compliance and trust
No. BitcoinDatabase provides informational on-chain data and analytics only. Nothing here is financial, investment, trading or legal advice, and no metric, label or flow is a signal, recommendation or guarantee. You decide how the data fits your own work.
Yes, as compliance tooling that supports a regulated team's own review. The AML and risk module surfaces entity labels, risk signals and fund flows so your team can do its own analysis. It makes no accusations about individuals, does not deanonymize anyone, and offers no guarantees. The decision always stays with your team.
Addresses and transactions can carry exchange, miner and service labels as informational context, so you can see where value sits and moves at an entity level. Labels are best-effort context for your own review, never a claim about a specific person.
Ready to query Bitcoin data?
Run your first query today. One request returns an address, transaction, balance, UTXO or metric from the fully-indexed chain. Informational on-chain data only.