What method do you use to track and follow your cryptocurrency holdings? Is it a phone app, like Blockfolio? Do you manually check Coinmarketcap or Live Coin Watch to find your coins?

One simple method to track your portfolio is by using Microsoft Excel. Below is an example of what a portfolio may look like:

Note: currency values are listed in CAD$. 

In this image, I have decided to show each coin's rank, symbol, the date of acquisition, how long that coin has been held, the market cap (in millions), the all-time high (ATH), the relative price compared to ATH, the 1 hr % change, the 24 hr % change, the 7 day % change, the number of each coin owneed, the current value of 1 coin, the total value, and the percentage of the overall portfolio for each coin. 

In this image, the easiest part of it is that almost all of those columns can be set to update automatically, as fast or as slow as you'd like!

How does it work?

Coinmarketcap, for example, provides a free API service that displays several parameters about the coin updated instantly. Here is an example of what you look at the API from Coinmarketcap for Bitcoin, converted to CAD$:

While it does provide much of the information about BTC, what can we do with it? It turns out that Excel has a very easy function which can import this data into a simple format (like in that first table). 

Here are the steps to get the API data from any site and display it easily in Excel:

• Copy your coin API data link (example: this link shows the above table https://api.coinmarketcap.com/v1/ticker/bitcoin/?convert=CAD)
• In an Excel sheet, select the 'Data' tab
• In the top left, select 'From Web'
• Paste the URL into the empty text box, and select 
• A text box will now open and you can define the name of your coin in the box on the right (I randomly chose vertcoin, VTC), hit enter, and select 'To Table' convert button (top left) is now avaible.
• A new textbox will appear. Don't change either item and choose 'Ok'.
• You'll now notice the green box in the center now says 'Column 1', rather than 'List', as well as a new double arrow icon. Click on that new icon. It converts the vertical table into a horizontal table which allows for better visibility in Excel. (See the below image to see what you get)
• Select 'Close & Load'. A new tab will open in your Excel sheet and you will see 18 columns of data about your coin. 
• One last step. If you want to automatically update you coin data, follow the steps in the image below. While selecting the newly added data, select properties in the 'Data' tab. Select Query properties. And check the following boxes and choose the frequency of checking your data. I chose 10 minute intervals. 

And there you have it! You can now organize the data however you'd like to keep track of your cryptocurrency holdings and have it update as quickly (or slowly) as you'd like. I used to have it update every 5 minutes, but I realized that I check my coins way too often. 

Cheers!