Overview
Bitquery Cardano API is a paid data service that lets developers and analysts look up Cardano transactions, wallet balances and token activity without running their own copy of the blockchain. Instead of syncing a Cardano node (the software that stores and checks the full chain) and building a search index on top of it, teams send questions to Bitquery and get organized answers back1. Bitquery's docs name wallet and portfolio apps, DEX analytics, stablecoin monitoring and compliance work as common uses2.
Bitquery is a blockchain data company that started as Bloxy.info, an Ethereum explorer, took the Bitquery name in 2018 and launched its GraphQL APIs in 20193. This listing covers its Cardano product: an index of every Cardano block since 2017. Apps reach it through an API (a connection that lets software request data) using GraphQL, a query language that returns only the fields asked for. Enterprise plans add SQL, the standard database language, and bulk exports to cloud storage1.
Key Features
- Wallet balances in one lookup. A single query returns an address's ADA plus every native token it holds, along with staking details such as rewards available and rewards already withdrawn4.
- History back to the first block. Coverage starts at the Byron genesis in 2017, so a team can show a wallet's complete transaction history without replaying the chain itself1.
- Token mint and burn tracking. Mint and burn events for any native token, including NFTs, ordinary tokens and the DJED stablecoin, can be followed to track drops and changes in supply2.
- Trace ADA across wallets. The Coinpath tool traces ADA inbound and outbound across several hops, meaning from wallet to wallet to wallet, for anti-money-laundering checks, treasury audits and exchange deposit tracing5.
- Keep the raw data yourself. The Bitquery Data Store sells the whole Cardano ledger as Parquet files, a compact table format that data warehouses read, with a free sample for each of its five tables6.
What to Expect
Developers start by getting an API key, the password-like code an app sends with each request, from their Bitquery account1. From there they can test queries in the GraphQL IDE, a browser playground for writing and running queries. Bitquery's docs walk through Cardano examples for blocks, transactions, the inputs and outputs that make up each transfer, addresses, token mints and fund tracing, each with a ready-to-run query2.
Cardano data is sold as an add-on pack to Bitquery's self-service plans, with full history included and bought in the account dashboard without a sales call. Enterprise customers can also get bulk exports to services such as Amazon S3, Snowflake and BigQuery, plus service-level agreements, the written uptime and support terms large customers sign1.
New blocks reach the GraphQL API within minutes of landing on the chain. Bitquery has no push stream for Cardano, so apps that want fresh data ask again every minute or two, a pattern called polling1. Bitquery's own docs say a node remains the better tool for submitting transactions; the API is built for reading and analyzing chain data2.
Analysts who prefer a visual tool can use MoneyFlow Lite, a browser app that follows ADA from an address hop by hop and runs on a Bitquery plan1. Teams weighing their options can compare other API providers that serve Cardano data.
