Bitcoin Price Tracker

A command-line Bitcoin price tracker with ASCII visualizations, supporting both line charts and Japanese candlestick charts.

Features

• Real-time BTC price: Fetches current Bitcoin price from multiple APIs
• Customizable timeframes: View price history from 1 hour to multiple days
• Two chart types:
  • Line chart: Simple price trend visualization
  • Japanese candlesticks: Trader-friendly OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close) data
• Multiple data sources: Falls back between Binance, CoinDesk, and CoinGecko APIs
• Smart intervals: Automatically selects appropriate time intervals based on timeframe
• Terminal-based: Runs entirely in the command line with ASCII graphics

Installation

No external dependencies required! The script uses only Python standard library modules.

git clone https://github.com/chico10117/scripts.git
cd scripts
chmod +x btc_tracker.py

Usage

Basic Usage

# Default: 2-hour line chart
python3 btc_tracker.py

# Show help
python3 btc_tracker.py --help

Customizable Timeframes

# 1 hour
python3 btc_tracker.py -H 1

# 6 hours  
python3 btc_tracker.py -H 6

# 24 hours (1 day)
python3 btc_tracker.py -H 24

# 168 hours (1 week)
python3 btc_tracker.py -H 168

Japanese Candlestick Charts

# 2-hour candlestick chart
python3 btc_tracker.py -c

# 6-hour candlesticks
python3 btc_tracker.py -c -H 6

# 24-hour candlesticks
python3 btc_tracker.py --candles --hours 24

Chart Types

Line Chart

Shows price trend as connected dots with vertical bars:

2-Hour Price Trend ($115,439.12 - $116,828.29):
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                     ●●           │ $ 116,828
│                                   ●●││      ●●   │ $ 116,674
│                                ●●●││││●●●●●●││●● │ $ 116,520
│                  ●●  ●●  ●●●●●●│││││││││││││││││●│ $ 116,365
│               ●●●││●●││●●│││││││││││││││││││││││││ $ 116,211
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Japanese Candlestick Chart

Shows OHLC data with traditional candlestick representation:

2-Hour Candlestick Chart ($115,294.72 - $116,828.93):
┌────────────────────────┐
│                 │      │ $ 116,829
│                 █▒  █▒ │ $ 116,701
│               █─█▒█─█▒▒│ $ 116,573
│            █▒█│ ▒█│  ▒│ $ 116,445
│        █▒█▒█│          │ $ 116,317
└────────────────────────┘

Legend: ▒ Bearish  █ Bullish  │ Wicks  ─ Doji

Command Line Options

usage: btc_tracker.py [-h] [-H HOURS] [-c]

Bitcoin Price Tracker with customizable timeframes

options:
  -h, --help         show this help message and exit
  -H, --hours HOURS  Number of hours to fetch price history (default: 2)
  -c, --candles      Show Japanese candlestick chart instead of line chart

Data Sources & Intervals

The script automatically chooses appropriate time intervals based on the requested timeframe:

• ≤2 hours: 5-minute intervals
• ≤12 hours: 15-minute intervals
• ≤48 hours: 1-hour intervals
• >48 hours: 4-hour intervals

API Sources (in priority order):

1. Binance (primary) - Fast and reliable
2. CoinDesk - Fallback option
3. CoinGecko - Secondary fallback

Output Information

Each run displays:

• Current BTC price with data provider
• Last updated timestamp
• Price trend visualization
• Price range (min/max) for the timeframe
• Overall trend with percentage change
• Directional emoji indicators (📈📉➡️)

Examples

Quick Price Check

python3 btc_tracker.py -H 1

Weekly Trading Analysis

python3 btc_tracker.py -c -H 168

Intraday Scalping View

python3 btc_tracker.py -c -H 4

Technical Notes

• Price Type: Uses closing prices for each time interval
• No Dependencies: Built with Python standard library only
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Network Required: Fetches live data from cryptocurrency APIs
• Graceful Fallbacks: Continues to work even if some APIs are unavailable

License

Open source - feel free to modify and distribute.

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Built with Python 3 and ASCII art for maximum terminal compatibility.