How to Build Your Own Crypto Trading App: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Written by imisioluwa13312 | Published 2023/12/06
Tech Story Tags: cryptocurrency | api | flask | apps | monetization | trading | app-development | crypto-trading

TLDRLearn to create a basic crypto trading app using Flask, connect it to the Binance API, use Docker and GitHub Actions for deployment, and consider monetization strategies.via the TL;DR App

Crypto trading is a popular and lucrative activity that involves buying and selling different cryptocurrencies on various platforms. Crypto trading apps are applications that allow users to access the crypto market and execute trades from their mobile devices. Crypto trading apps can offer various features, such as market analysis, portfolio management, price alerts, news updates, and more.

If you are interested in creating your own crypto trading app, you will need to follow some steps and use some tools to make it happen. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of building a basic crypto trading app that can connect to a crypto exchange, display real-time prices, and execute buy and sell orders.

Step 1: Setting your cost

The cost of developing a crypto trading app depends on various factors, such as the type and complexity of your app, the features and technologies you choose, the size and experience of your development team, the location and rates of your developers, etc. However, as a rough estimate, you can expect to pay between $25,000 and $100,000 for a basic crypto trading app and between $100,000 and $500,000 for a complex crypto trading app.

Step 2: Choose a Crypto Exchange API

The first step is to choose a crypto exchange API that will provide the data and functionality for your app. A crypto exchange API is a set of endpoints that allow you to interact with a crypto exchange platform programmatically. You can use a crypto exchange API to get market data, such as prices, volumes, order books, and more. You can also use a crypto exchange API to place and cancel orders, check your balance, and manage your account.

There are many crypto exchange APIs available, such as [Binance], [Coinbase], [Kraken], and more. Each crypto exchange API has its own documentation, features, limitations, and fees. You will need to choose a crypto exchange API that suits your needs and preferences. For this tutorial, we will use the [Binance API] as an example, but you can use any other crypto exchange API that you like.

To use the Binance API, you will need to create an account on [Binance] and generate an API key and a secret key. You will use these keys to authenticate your requests to the Binance API. You can find the instructions on how to create and manage your API keys on the [Binance API documentation].

Step 3: Choose a Programming Language and a Framework

The next step is to choose a programming language and a framework that you will use to develop your app. A programming language is a set that you will use to develop your app. A programming language is a set of rules and syntax that allow you to write instructions for a computer to execute. A framework is a collection of libraries and tools that provide common functionality and structure for your app.

There are many programming languages and frameworks that you can use to create a crypto trading app, such as [Python], [JavaScript], [Java], [Swift], and more. Each programming language and framework has its own advantages, disadvantages, and learning curve. You will need to choose a programming language and a framework that you are familiar with or willing to learn.

For this tutorial, we will use [Python] as the programming language and [Flask] as the framework. Python is a high-level, interpreted, and general-purpose programming language that is easy to read and write. Flask is a lightweight and flexible web framework that allows you to create web applications with minimal code.

To use Python and Flask, you will need to install them on your computer. You can find the instructions on how to install Python on the [Python website] and how to install Flask on the [Flask website].

Step 4: Create a Flask App and Connect to the Binance API

The third step is to create a Flask app and connect it to the Binance API. A Flask app is a web application that consists of one or more Python files that define the routes, views, and logic of your app. A route is a URL pattern that maps to a view function. A view function is a Python function that handles a request and returns a response. A request is an HTTP message that contains information about the user’s action, such as the URL, the method, the headers, and the data. A response is an HTTP message that contains information about the app’s action, such as the status code, the headers, and the data.

To create a Flask app, you will need to create a Python file, such as app.py, and import the Flask module. You will also need to create an instance of the Flask class and assign it to a variable, such as app. You can then use the app variable to define your routes and views. For example, you can create a route for the home page of your app and a view function that returns a simple message:

# Import the Flask module
from flask import Flask

# Create an instance of the Flask class
app = Flask(__name__)

# Define a route for the home page
@app.route("/")
# Define a view function for the home page
def home():
    # Return a simple message
    return "Hello, world!"

To connect your Flask app to the Binance API, you will need to use a Python library that can handle HTTP requests, such as [Requests]. Requests is a simple and elegant library that allows you to send and receive HTTP requests with Python. You can install Requests on your computer by using the pip command:

pip install requests

You will also need to import the Requests module in your Python file and use it to make requests to the Binance API. You will need to provide the URL of the Binance API endpoint, the HTTP method, the headers, and the parameters for each request. You will also need to use your API key and secret key to sign your requests. You can find the details on how to use the Binance API on the [Binance API documentation].

For example, you can create a function that gets the current price of a specific cryptocurrency pair, such as BTC/USDT, from the Binance API and returns it as a JSON object:

# Import the Requests module
import requests

# Define a function that gets the current price of a cryptocurrency pair
def get_price(pair):
    # Define the URL of the Binance API endpoint
    url = "https://api.binance.com/api/v3/ticker/price"
    # Define the HTTP method
    method = "GET"
    # Define the headers
    headers = {
        # Provide your API key
        "X-MBX-APIKEY": "your_api_key"
    }
    # Define the parameters
    params = {
        # Provide the cryptocurrency pair
        "symbol": pair
    }
    # Make the request to the Binance API
    response = requests.request(method, url, headers=headers, params=params)
    # Return the response as a JSON object
    return response.json()

You can then use this function in your view function to display the current price of BTC/USDT on your home page:

# Import the Flask module
from flask import Flask

# Create an instance of the Flask class
app = Flask(__name__)

# Define a route for the home page
@app.route("/")
# Define a view function for the home page
def home():
    # Get the current price of BTC/USDT
    price = get_price("BTCUSDT")
    # Return the price as a message
    return f"The current price of BTC/USDT is {price['price']}"

Step 5: Create a User Interface and a Database

The fifth step is to create a user interface and a database for your app. A user interface is a graphical or textual element that allows the user to interact with your app. A database is a collection of data that is organized and stored in a structured way.

To create a user interface for your app, you will need to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

For the database, you have many options to choose from; you can use a relational database management system (RDBMS) like SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL. You can use SQLAlchemy, an ORM (object-relational mapping) library for Python, to interact with your database using Python objects and queries. You can use your database to store user information, such as username, password, email, balance, etc., as well as transaction history, such as buy and sell orders, fees, profits, etc.

You can use Flask-login, a Flask extension, to manage user sessions and authentication. You can use Flask-WTF, another Flask extension, to create and validate web forms for user input. You can use Flask-Mail, yet another Flask extension, to send email notifications to your users. To use Flask-login, you need to do the following steps:

  • Install Flask-login using pip: pip install flask-login
  • Import the LoginManager class from flask_login and create an instance of it in your app: from flask_login import LoginManager login_manager = LoginManager(app)

  • **Define a User model that inherits from flask_login.UserMixin, which provides default implementations for properties and methods that Flask-login expects from a user object, such as is_authenticated, is_active, get_id, etc. You also need to define a unique identifier for each user, such as an id or a username

from flask_login import UserMixin

class User(UserMixin):
    def __init__(self, id, username, password):
        self.id = id
        self.username = username
        self. Password = password
  • Use Flask-SQLAlchemy to create a database and store the User model in it. You can use the db.Model base class to create a table for the User model and use the db.Column class to define the columns for the id, username, and password attributes.
  • Define a user loader function that takes a user identifier as an argument and returns the corresponding user object from the database. You need to decorate this function with the @login_manager.user_loader decorator.
  • Create a sign-up form that allows users to create an account by entering their username and password. You can use the Flask-WTF extension to create a form class that has two fields: username and password.
  • Create a sign-up route that renders the sign-up form template and handles the form submission. You need to check if the username is already taken and if the password is valid before creating a new user and adding it to the database.
  • Create a login form that allows users to log in to their account by entering their username and password. You can also add a remember field which is a boolean value that indicates whether the user wants to be remembered by the browser.
  • Create a login route that renders the login form template and handles the form submission. You need to check if the username and password match the user in the database, and if so, call the login_user function to log in the user. You can also use the remember argument to set the cookie duration for the user.
  • Create a logout route that calls the logout_user function to log out the user and redirect them to the home page.
  • Use the @login_required decorator to protect any routes that require user authentication. This will redirect the user to the login page if they are not logged in.

Step 6: Implement Trading Logic and Strategies

  • To implement trading logic and strategies for your app, you can use the Binance API, which you already chose, to access market data and execute orders. You can use requests, a Python library, to make HTTP requests to the Binance API endpoints. You can use pandas, another Python library, to manipulate and analyze market data in tabular format. You can use numpy, yet another Python library, to perform numerical calculations and operations on market data.
  • You can implement different trading strategies for your app, such as market orders, limit orders, stop-loss orders, etc. You can also implement different trading indicators, such as moving averages, Bollinger bands, MACD, RSI, etc., to help you identify trading signals and opportunities. You can use TA-Lib, a technical analysis library for Python, to calculate various trading indicators. You can also use backtesting, a technique to test your trading strategies on historical data, to evaluate their performance and profitability. You can use Back Trader, a Python framework, to perform back-testing on your trading strategies.

Step 7: Test and Deploy Your App

  • To test your app, you can use unit test, a Python module, to write and run unit tests for your code. You can use pytest, a Python framework, to write and run more advanced tests for your code. You can use coverage, another Python module, to measure the code coverage of your tests. You can also use debugging tools, such as PDB, a Python module, or PyCharm, an IDE (integrated development environment), to find and fix errors and bugs in your code.

  • To deploy your app, you can use a cloud service provider, such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Heroku, to host your app on a server. You can use Docker, a software platform, to create and run your app in a container, which is an isolated and portable environment. You can use Git, a version control system, to manage your code and track changes. You can use GitHub, a web-based platform, to store and share your code online. You can also use CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery) tools, such as Travis CI, Jenkins, or GitHub Actions, to automate the testing and deployment of your app.

I’m going to show you a possible way to deploy your Flask crypto trading app using Docker and GitHub.

  • Step 1: Create a Docker file in the root directory of your Flask app. A Docker file is a text file that contains instructions for building a Docker image. A Docker image is a snapshot of your app and its dependencies that can be run as a container. You can use the following example as a template, but you may need to modify it according to your app’s requirements:
# Use an official Python runtime as a base image
FROM python:3.9

# Set the working directory to /app
WORKDIR /app

# Copy the current directory contents into the container at /app
COPY . /app

# Install any needed packages specified in requirements.txt
RUN pip install --trusted-host pypi.python.org -r requirements.txt

# Make port 80 available to the world outside this container
EXPOSE 80

# Define environment variable
ENV NAME World

# Run app.py when the container launches
CMD ["python", "app.py"]
  • Step 7: Push your Flask app code to the GitHub repository. You can use the git add, git commit, and git push commands to do this. You need to provide the URL of your GitHub repository, such as https://github.com/username/flask-app.git. For example:
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git push origin main
  • Step 8: Create a GitHub workflow for deploying your app. A GitHub workflow is a file that defines a set of actions that are triggered by certain events, such as a push or a pull request. You can use the GitHub Actions feature to create and manage your workflows. You need to create a file named .github/workflows/deploy.yml in your repository that contains the following code:
# This workflow will deploy your Flask app using Docker and GitHub Actions

name: Deploy

# Controls when the workflow will run
on:
  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the main branch
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

# A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
jobs:
  # This job will deploy your app to a cloud service provider of your choice
  deploy:
    # The type of runner that the job will run on
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    # Steps represent a sequence of tasks that will be executed as part of the job
    steps:
      # Checks-out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your job can access it
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      # Sets up Docker
      - name: Set up Docker
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v1

      # Logs in to the Docker registry
      - name: Log in to Docker registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v1
        with:
          # Replace this with the registry name and your username, such as docker.io/username or ghcr.io/username
          registry: docker.io/username
          # Replace this with the name of the secret that contains your registry password, such as DOCKER_PASSWORD or GHCR_TOKEN
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}

      # Builds and pushes the Docker image
      - name: Build and push Docker image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v2
        with:
          # Replace this with the name and tag of your image, such as docker.io/username/flask-app:latest or ghcr.io/username/flask-app:latest
          push: true
          tags: docker.io/username/flask-app:latest

      # Deploys the app to the cloud service provider
      - name: Deploy app to cloud service provider
        # Replace this with the action that deploys your app to the cloud service provider of your choice, such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Heroku
        # You may need to provide additional arguments or environment variables for the action, such as the app name, the region, the credentials, etc.
        # You can find more actions in the GitHub Marketplace: https://github.com/marketplace?type=actions
        uses: actions/example-action@v1
        with:
          # Replace this with the arguments for the action
          arg1: value1
          arg2: value2
        env:
          # Replace this with the environment variables for the action
          ENV1: value1
          ENV2: value2
  • Step 9: Commit and push the workflow file to the GitHub repository. You can use the git add, git commit, and git push commands to do this. For example:
git add .github/workflows/deploy.yml
git commit -m "Add deploy workflow"
git push origin main
  • Step 10: Check the status of the workflow. You can use the GitHub web interface to view the progress and logs of your workflow. You can also see the status badge on your README.md file that indicates whether the workflow is successful or not. You can click on the badge to see more details.

HOW TO EARN MONEY FROM YOUR CRYPTO TRADING APP

The last step of creating a crypto trading app is to monetize your app and generate revenue from it. There are various ways to monetize a crypto trading app, such as:

  • Fees and commissions. You can charge your users fees and commissions for using your platform, such as deposit and withdrawal fees, trading fees, exchange fees, etc. You can also charge your users fees and commissions for using your premium features, such as advanced trading tools, indicators, etc.
  • Ads and sponsorships. You can display ads and sponsorships on your app and earn revenue from the impressions and clicks of your users. You can also partner with other crypto-related businesses and promote their products and services on your app, and earn revenue from the referrals and conversions of your users.
  • Subscriptions and memberships. You can offer your users subscriptions and memberships to access your exclusive content and features, such as premium news and analysis, trading signals, tips, etc. You can also offer your users subscriptions and memberships to join your community and network, such as chat rooms, forums, groups, etc.

In Conclusion: creating a crypto-Trading app can be a profiting venture although it can be very complex as you will be considering a lot a business aspect to it.

Written by imisioluwa13312 | Hi I'm Dahunsi Imisioluwa, A Developer and writer.
Published by HackerNoon on 2023/12/06
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