A couple of days ago I wrote a review of CoinGecko and also mentioned CoinMarketCap in passing and so it is only logical that I follow through with a similar review, which is my purpose for today.

I am sure you can forgive the small hiatus, and the quick article I wrote yesterday about chimpanzees. I did this partly because it was interesting, but it also bought me a bit of time to make sure I did this article the same service as the aforementioned CoinGecko one.

So, enough preamble, let’s get down to it.

CoinMarketCap has been a major crypto data site since 2013 and so it predates CoinGecko by about a year. Likewise, CoinMarketCap aggregates prices from many exchanges, giving a broad market overview and similarly it is useful, but its reliability measure really depends on what you use it for. It’s strong a data aggregator, but several documented issues mean you shouldn’t rely on it as your only source.

Given that, as with CoinGecko, it is only as good as the exchanges that are sourcing the data, which inevitably results in a certain number of inaccuracies and this must be my primary focus for today. Users and analysts have also noted glitches, sudden market‑cap errors, and inconsistencies in rankings. For example, some Reddit users reported large, unexplained swings in total market cap and questioned why certain tokens appear or disappear from the top 100. Such inconsistencies ultimately raise questions about the data providence and caution is strongly advised.

Having said that the largest concern by far, that I have come across affects the impartiality of the platform. With it being owned by Binance, who acquired it in 2020, some users have complained that this has resulted in a bias concerning, which tokens are highlighted or how rankings are handled, especially when Binance‑chain tokens appear so prominently. Of secondary concern the platform carries a lot of adverts and affiliate links, “paid advertising” which, with it being a revenue stream for them, will have a consequence on how they present data. After all you don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Some reviewers have expressed issues with censorship, bot activity, and scam moderation, and furthermore suggested that not all listings are treated equally. Cumulatively this has come together to give an overall Trustpilot rating  of 1.3/5, or about half of how CoinGecko is rated. Featured prominently in the feedback are complaints about scam tokens, misleading ads, and users being banned for calling out suspicious projects – so just like your average faucet site then.

Please note the faucets themselves are often fine, but never trust any link from them.

Coming back to reviews ScamAdviser gives CoinMarketCap a medium‑to‑low trust score (66/100), noting hidden ownership details and general conditions that raise some potential red flags.

With all of this in mind, and what has turned out to be a relatively negative review (so far) it begs the question as to whether CoinMarketCap is of any use at all. From what I have found out, it is a good way to quickly check prices, look up market cap and volume estimates and track major, well‑established coins. Additionally with a bit of tweaking, it can set up for portfolio tracking and watchlists.

These features are widely used and usually accurate enough for everyday monitoring, but wherever this an up there naturally follows that there is a down.

Users should employ extreme caution when it comes to evaluating new or obscure tokens and utilising their advertised “top gainers”, which often include pump‑and‑dump tokens – there in a nutshell is that bias I have warned against and similarly under no circumstances should the user rely on rankings that may be curated in Biance’s favour.

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong CoinMarketCap, it is certainly not a scam, we must remember that it isn’t fully unbiased, and its data can be imperfect. As with CoinGecko treat it as a starting point and not a final authority. You might remember my comparison to relying on Wikipedia for academic purposes – great for an overview but don’t take any further than that.

In this, it is in a similar place to CoinGecko and given what it offers; the good, the bad and the ugly, a prudent approach, as most experts advise, is to bring the two together. Why not cross‑check any data with CoinGecko, who score much better when it comes to transparency and a neutrality that is driven by the community that supports it.