To help you get started, we've collected the most common ways that blockcypher is being used within popular public projects.

blockcypher / blockcypher-python / test_blockcypher.py View on Github

def test_invalid_hash(self):
        assert not is_valid_hash(self.invalid_hash), self.invalid_hash

View more ways to use blockcypher

blockcypher-python

Official python library for BlockCypher web services. Easily query the blockchain without writing any code. Fast, reliable, and packed with powerful features you won't find in other block explorers. Currently supports bitcoin (including main and testnet), Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash, URO and the blockcypher testnet.

Designed to be used without having to RTFM.

More features and support for more endpoints coming soon. Should support python 2.6+ and python3.x, but hasn't been thoroughly tested on 2.6+. Native support for datetime conversions. Issues and pull requests much appreciated!

Installation

Use pip with

$ pip3 install blockcypher

(for python 2.x use pip instead of pip3)

You can of course install it the old fashioned way like this:

$ python setup.py install

Get Started:

>>> import blockcypher

Note: to keep your code clean we recommend from blockcypher import foo where foo is the method you want to use, but for simplicity all examples below are instead written as blockcypher.foo('bar')

How much bitcoin (in satoshis) is currently sitting in the Bitcoin Foundation Address:

>>> blockcypher.get_total_balance('1BTCorgHwCg6u2YSAWKgS17qUad6kHmtQW')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
5850576658

Satoshis are a bit hard to inuit. How much is that in BTC?

>>> blockcypher.from_base_unit(5850576658, 'btc')
58.50576658

~58.5 BTC, not bad.

How many transactions did it take to accumulate that much BTC?

>>> blockcypher.get_total_num_transactions('1BTCorgHwCg6u2YSAWKgS17qUad6kHmtQW')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
901

We could break that down with get_num_confirmed_transactions() and get_num_unconfirmed_transactions() if we wanted.

What's the current block height?

>>> blockcypher.get_latest_block_height()  # BTC unless specified otherwise
330545

We could get that as a block hash if we prefer:

>>> blockcypher.get_latest_block_hash()  # BTC unless specified otherwise
'0000000000000000126fc62619701b8c3da59424755e9de409053524620b114d'

We can also convert between block hashes and block heights

>>> blockcypher.get_block_height('0000000000000000126fc62619701b8c3da59424755e9de409053524620b114d')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
330545

Use get_block_hash() to convert back.

We can also find the previous block hash:

>>> blockcypher.get_prev_block_hash('0000000000000000126fc62619701b8c3da59424755e9de409053524620b114d')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
'000000000000000008573d8ac6eb85ea50fc164c2339dffeeb768423b72f5eeb'

Something Cool

Payment forwarding is really hard to setup yourself and trivial with blockcypher.

>>> blockcypher.get_forwarding_address('16uKw7GsQSzfMaVTcT7tpFQkd7Rh9qcXWX', api_key='your key here')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
'1Am4RUsCoiC3LfVC53kxVyfPkB4gEdRtkg'

Now any funds sent to 1Am4RUsCoiC3LfVC53kxVyfPkB4gEdRtkg will instantly forward to 16uKw7GsQSzfMaVTcT7tpFQkd7Rh9qcXWX.

You can check on your payments like this:

>>> blockcypher.list_forwarding_addresses(api_key='your key here', coin_symbol='btc')
[{'token': '8d99...',
  'id': '60ad7de3-ce81-40a2-ac92-6c74ab85bb72',
  'txs': ['f7750e98af49d12b2c63835399d4a96e1b5fd76f897d020f6c6bf8a7c13cdae1'],
  'input_address': '162r...',
  'callback_url': 'http://requestb.in/...',
  'destination': '1BaJ...'},
...
]

And you can delete one like this:

>>> blockcypher.delete_forwarding_address(payment_id='60ad7de3-ce81-40a2-ac92-6c74ab85bb72')  # BTC unless specified otherwise

The Details

Want to know about an address generally?

>>> blockcypher.get_address_details('1PTUHs5ivGAN5aHTY7UQk5RcCE8a67mUT4')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
{'unconfirmed_balance': 0,
 'final_balance': 6444,
 'address': '1PTUHs5ivGAN5aHTY7UQk5RcCE8a67mUT4',
 'tx_url': 'https://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/txs/',
 'unconfirmed_n_tx': 0,
 'unconfirmed_txrefs': [],
 'n_tx': 1,
 'final_n_tx': 1,
 'balance': 6444,
 'txrefs': [{'confirmations': 216,
   'tx_input_n': -1,
   'block_height': 330554,
   'tx_hash': '608cbc04cbda960e5b8481013030ff6cc6e4b92eeddf42d8dd15d42715c886f2',
   'double_spend': False,
   'value': 6444,
   'tx_output_n': 0,
   'confirmed': datetime.datetime(2014, 11, 18, 9, 39, 56, tzinfo=tzutc()),
   'spent': False}]}

Want to know about a transaction generally?

>>> blockcypher.get_transaction_details('fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157')  # BTC unless specified otherwise
{'confirmations': 318425,
 'lock_time': 0,
 'vout_sz': 1,
 'preference': 'low',
 'block_hash': '00000000b8980ec1fe96bc1b4425788ddc88dd36699521a448ebca2020b38699',
 'block_height': 12345,
 'total': 5000000000,
 'confirmed': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'vin_sz': 1,
 'relayed_by': '',
 'received': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'fees': 0,
 'outputs': [{'value': 5000000000,
   'script': '4104c5d62274610e82819939c3341a4addc72634664d73b11ba761de42839aa3496f93b3b3ee80e497eb5a68439b02f04e9aeb1604fbcaa074aa82f0f7574f9f110dac',
   'script_type': 'pay-to-pubkey',
   'addresses': ['18x6rfvHEgH1iTbkJTjRpYJrfSAhWdUiQM'],
   'spent_by': ''}],
 'addresses': ['18x6rfvHEgH1iTbkJTjRpYJrfSAhWdUiQM'],
 'ver': 1,
 'double_spend': False,
 'inputs': [{'script_type': 'empty',
   'script': '04ffff001d02aa06',
   'output_index': -1,
   'output_value': 5000000000,
   'addresses': []}],
 'hash': 'fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157'}

Some great transaction methods that take a transaction hash and return exactly what they sound like:

• get_num_confirmations()
• get_satoshis_transacted()
• get_satoshis_in_fees()
• get_confidence(), get_miner_preference() and get_receive_count() are powerful methods that use blockcypher's unique transaction confirmation prediction abilities.

You can also get a list of broadcast transactions that haven't made it into a block yet:

>>> blockcypher.get_broadcast_transaction_hashes(limit=5)
['4d6e75ed639fc7fe63f57b5578fd01e6712d22f1f307dc1bf720fddc59b4d586',
 'daae0f0849148b512fb909d57444a9f41300f188c9583ff93e71c8b97546ebd6',
 '899d1e1dd41baacf7b766fc643156e40d2438d780dd00ec651c9312693e3fe16',
 '313dfba9bd69d406176e5b305146a3136f40eda4589f06e1d770d6bfacaf5b52',
 'c3e0a3a702a4b8cd6f72618fd13e87b7f2b55a215fd78c35ca13a2d2bbd89088']

For more details on those transactions, use blockcypher.get_broadcast_transactions()

Want more info about a block?

>>> blockcypher.get_block_overview(12345)  # BTC unless specified otherwise
{'txids': ['fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157'],
 'mrkl_root': 'fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157',
 'height': 12345,
 'prev_block': '0000000076876082384460fb5a231cc5a5e874b9762e15a4e7b1fc068f749cdf',
 'total': 0,
 'time': datetime.datetime(2009, 4, 26, 22, 25, 32, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'nonce': 784807199,
 'bits': 486604799,
 'fees': 0,
 'received_time': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'depth': 318424,
 'prev_block_url': 'https://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/blocks/0000000076876082384460fb5a231cc5a5e874b9762e15a4e7b1fc068f749cdf',
 'chain': 'BTC.main',
 'ver': 1,
 'n_tx': 1,
 'hash': '00000000b8980ec1fe96bc1b4425788ddc88dd36699521a448ebca2020b38699',
 'tx_url': 'https://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/txs/'}

We can also get details on its transaction(s):

>>> blockcypher.get_block_details(12345)  # BTC unless specified otherwise
{'txids': [{'confirmations': 318425,
   'lock_time': 0,
   'vout_sz': 1,
   'preference': 'low',
   'block_hash': '00000000b8980ec1fe96bc1b4425788ddc88dd36699521a448ebca2020b38699',
   'block_height': 12345,
   'total': 5000000000,
   'confirmed': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
   'vin_sz': 1,
   'relayed_by': '',
   'received': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
   'fees': 0,
   'outputs': [{'value': 5000000000,
     'script': '4104c5d62274610e82819939c3341a4addc72634664d73b11ba761de42839aa3496f93b3b3ee80e497eb5a68439b02f04e9aeb1604fbcaa074aa82f0f7574f9f110dac',
     'script_type': 'pay-to-pubkey',
     'addresses': ['18x6rfvHEgH1iTbkJTjRpYJrfSAhWdUiQM'],
     'spent_by': ''}],
   'addresses': ['18x6rfvHEgH1iTbkJTjRpYJrfSAhWdUiQM'],
   'ver': 1,
   'double_spend': False,
   'inputs': [{'script_type': 'empty',
     'script': '04ffff001d02aa06',
     'output_index': -1,
     'output_value': 5000000000,
     'addresses': []}],
   'hash': 'fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157'}],
 'mrkl_root': 'fd1dc97a826eb93b485b6bada84a807ee81181f7ab2720cefb5fa96729363157',
 'height': 12345,
 'prev_block': '0000000076876082384460fb5a231cc5a5e874b9762e15a4e7b1fc068f749cdf',
 'total': 0,
 'time': datetime.datetime(2009, 4, 26, 22, 25, 32, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'nonce': 784807199,
 'bits': 486604799,
 'fees': 0,
 'received_time': datetime.datetime(2014, 5, 19, 19, 39, 12, 207000, tzinfo=tzutc()),
 'depth': 318424,
 'prev_block_url': 'https://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/blocks/0000000076876082384460fb5a231cc5a5e874b9762e15a4e7b1fc068f749cdf',
 'chain': 'BTC.main',
 'ver': 1,
 'n_tx': 1,
 'hash': '00000000b8980ec1fe96bc1b4425788ddc88dd36699521a448ebca2020b38699',
 'tx_url': 'https://api.blockcypher.com/v1/btc/main/txs/'}

Another cool feature is that we can generate a new address keypair server-side, but you should really do this client-side:

>>> blockcypher.generate_new_address()
{'public': '03c87d1bba027204670c975d01e813d4a20ba4f79500802ba0d51ce3393fb86c1f',
 'private': '6a16a2b20e56b7ab8fa366023787730ded6ee9cbd6d37d3e3af5a6bed551b721',
 'address': '12TiM15S5MFgYLfphaou2VZkmgyMDrfH8V'}

(If you use this exact bitcoin address, expect to lose your money instantly!)

Many More Coins Available

>>> from blockcypher import constants
>>> constants.COIN_SYMBOL_LIST
['btc', 'btc-testnet', 'ltc', 'doge', 'dash', 'bcy']

btc will always be assumed if nothing else is specified, but all methods support swapping in any of the previous coin_symbol entries. Just pass coin_symbol='foo' as a keyword argument to the function.

For example, here's the latest Litecoin block height.

>>> blockcypher.get_latest_block_height(coin_symbol='ltc')
678686

More examples

See the official blockcypher docs at https://blockcypher.com/dev/bitcoin?python#

Pull Requests Welcome

Please note that all PRs require test coverage in test_blockcypher.py.