Crypto Price Fetching Guide

Overview

PrivateACB can automatically fetch historical cryptocurrency prices from CoinGecko to calculate your cost base accurately. When you buy or sell crypto, you need the price in your reporting currency (CAD, USD, AUD, or GBP) on that specific date.

Why crypto prices matter:

ACB calculations require prices in your reporting currency
Most exchanges only record prices in their trading currency (often USD)
Missing prices will block ACB calculations
Manual price lookup is tedious for hundreds of transactions

What this guide covers:

Setting up your CoinGecko API key (free)
Using the Market Data tab to fetch prices
Understanding the 365-day Demo API limitation
Entering prices manually for gaps or unsupported assets

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Get a Free CoinGecko API Key

Visit CoinGecko API
Click “Get Your API Key”
Create a free account (Demo plan)
Copy your API key (starts with CG-)

Demo Plan Limits:

30 calls per minute
10,000 calls per month
365 days of historical data (important limitation)

Step 2: Configure API Key in PrivateACB

Go to Settings tab (Ctrl+7)
Open Data Sources → Currency API Configuration
Find “CoinGecko” row → Click “Configure”
Paste your API key → Click “Save API Key”
Click “Test” to verify connection

Success message: “CoinGecko Demo API connected successfully”

Step 3: Fetch Prices

Go to Market Data tab (Ctrl+2)
Select your jurisdiction: 🍁 CA or 🇺🇸 US
Scroll to Cryptocurrency Prices table
Find your asset (e.g., BTC, ETH, SOL)
Click “Fetch” button
Prices are downloaded and cached

Done! Prices are now available for ACB calculations.

Market Data Tab: Cryptocurrency Prices Section

Location

The Cryptocurrency Prices table appears in the Market Data tab (Ctrl+2), below the Exchange Rates table.

What You’ll See

Asset Table:

Asset	Status	Transactions	Date Range	Action
BTC	✅ Complete	45	Jan 2023 - Dec 2025	Fetch
ETH	⚠️ Gaps	23	Mar 2023 - Nov 2025	Fetch
SOL	🔴 None	12	Jun 2024 - Jan 2026	Fetch
DOGE	⚪ Unavailable	5	Aug 2024 - Dec 2025	Manual

Status Indicators

Status	Icon	Meaning
Complete	✅	All transaction dates have prices
Gaps	⚠️	Some dates have prices, some don’t
None	🔴	No prices cached yet
Unavailable	⚪	Asset not on CoinGecko (manual entry required)

No API Key State

If you haven’t configured a CoinGecko API key, you’ll see:

🦎 Crypto Price Status

No API key configured
Configure your free CoinGecko API key in Settings to fetch
historical prices for your crypto assets.

[Configure in Settings]

Click the button to go directly to Settings → Data Sources → Currency API Configuration.

Fetching Prices

How It Works

When you click “Fetch” for an asset:

PrivateACB identifies all transaction dates needing prices
Requests historical prices from CoinGecko API
Stores prices in your local database
Updates the asset status

Example log output:

[CoinGeckoService] Fetching BTC/CAD (2024-01-15 to 2025-12-31)
[CoinGeckoService] Demo API: Limiting from 554 days to 365 days
[CoinGeckoService] Fetched 365 prices for BTC/CAD

Rate Limiting

CoinGecko Demo API allows 30 calls per minute. PrivateACB automatically:

Queues requests to stay under the limit
Retries failed requests with exponential backoff
Shows progress during batch fetches

You don’t need to manage rate limits manually.

Supported Assets

PrivateACB includes mappings for the top 100+ cryptocurrencies including:

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL)
Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Avalanche (AVAX)
Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE)
Stablecoins: USDT, USDC, DAI, BUSD
And many more…

To check if your asset is supported: Look at the Status column. If it shows ⚪ Unavailable, the asset isn’t mapped.

Demo API Limitations

The 365-Day Rule

What this means:

If today is January 6, 2026
You can fetch prices from January 7, 2025 to today
Prices before January 7, 2025 are not available via API

Example scenario:

Your transactions: June 28, 2024 to January 2, 2026 (554 days)
API can provide: January 7, 2025 to January 2, 2026 (365 days)
Gap: June 28, 2024 to January 6, 2025 (needs manual entry)

When You Hit the Limit

If your date range exceeds 365 days, PrivateACB will:

Automatically limit the request to 365 days
Fetch the most recent 365 days of data
Log a message: Demo API: Limiting from 554 days to 365 days
Leave older dates without prices

Your options for older dates:

Manual entry - Enter prices yourself (see below)
Upgrade to Pro API - CoinGecko paid plans have no date limit ($129+/month)
Accept partial coverage - If older transactions aren’t tax-relevant

Manual Price Entry

When to Use

Use manual entry when:

Asset is not on CoinGecko (shows ⚪ Unavailable)
Transaction dates are older than 365 days
You have a specific price source you prefer
CoinGecko price differs from your exchange’s price

How to Enter Prices Manually

In the Cryptocurrency Prices table, click “Manual” for the asset
A modal appears: “Manual Price Entry”
Fill in the form:
- Date: Select the transaction date
- Asset: Pre-filled (e.g., SOL)
- Currency: CAD or USD (based on jurisdiction)
- Price: Enter the price per unit
- Source: Optional - note where you found this price
Click “Save Price”
Repeat for each missing date

Example:

Date: 2024-07-15
Asset: SOL
Currency: CAD
Price: 195.50
Source: CoinGecko website lookup

Finding Historical Prices

If you need to look up old prices manually:

CoinGecko Website:

Go to coingecko.com
Search for your asset (e.g., “Solana”)
Click “Historical Data” tab
Find the date you need
Note the price in your currency

Other sources:

CoinMarketCap historical data
Your exchange’s trade history (shows exact price you paid)
Blockchain explorers (for on-chain transactions)

Batch Manual Entry

For multiple missing dates, you can:

Prepare a list of dates and prices
Enter each one through the manual entry modal
The cache updates immediately

Future enhancement: CSV import for manual prices (planned).

After Fetching Prices

Verify Coverage

After fetching, check the asset status:

✅ Complete - Ready for ACB calculation
⚠️ Gaps - Some dates still need prices (check date range)

Run ACB Calculation

Go to ACB Calculator tab (Ctrl+4)
Configure your jurisdiction, method, and tax year in the Config Bar
Select your asset(s) in the Asset Table
Click “Calculate”

Prices are automatically applied during calculation.

Troubleshooting

For general troubleshooting (API key configuration, “asset shows unavailable”, partial prices), see the Market Data Guide — Troubleshooting section.

”TIME_RANGE_EXCEEDED” Error

Symptom: Fetch fails with time range exceeded message

Cause: Your date range is older than 365 days (Demo API limit)

Solution:

PrivateACB automatically limits to 365 days
For older dates, use manual price entry
Or upgrade to CoinGecko Pro API

Prices Fetched But ACB Still Fails

Symptom: Prices show ✅ Complete but ACB calculation errors

Possible causes:

Currency mismatch - Fetched USD prices but need CAD (or vice versa)
Weekend/holiday gaps - CoinGecko may skip some dates
Fiat rates missing - Also need USD↔CAD conversion rates

Solution:

Check jurisdiction setting matches your fetched prices
Use Market Data tab to import fiat exchange rates (Bank of Canada / Federal Reserve)
Fill any remaining gaps with manual entry

”Fetch” Button Does Nothing

Symptom: Clicking Fetch doesn’t start a request

Possible causes:

Already fetching - Check for progress indicator
No transactions - Asset has no transactions needing prices
All cached - Prices already fetched (status should show ✅)

Solution: Check the status column. If in doubt, close and reopen your database.

Best Practices

For general best practices (API key setup, checking after each import, monitoring API usage), see the Market Data Guide — Best Practices section.

Summary

Key Takeaways:

CoinGecko API provides free historical crypto prices (Demo plan)
365-day limit - Demo API only covers the past year
Configure in Settings - Data Sources → Currency API Configuration → CoinGecko
Fetch in Market Data tab - Cryptocurrency Prices table
Manual entry for unsupported assets or old dates
Check status before ACB calculations - all assets should show ✅

Quick Reference:

Task	Location
Configure API key	Settings (Ctrl+7) → Data Sources → Currency API Configuration → CoinGecko
Fetch prices	Market Data (Ctrl+2) → Cryptocurrency Prices → Fetch
Manual entry	Market Data (Ctrl+2) → Cryptocurrency Prices → Manual
Check coverage	Market Data (Ctrl+2) → Status column (✅/⚠️/🔴/⚪)

Last Updated: February 2026 PrivateACB Version: 2.0