Crypto Gloss

Moralis

Moralis is a Web3 backend-as-a-service platform founded in 2021 by Ivan Liljeqvist (known online as “Ivan on Tech”) and Filip Martinsson, and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Moralis provides REST APIs for blockchain data retrieval, including NFT metadata, wallet transaction history, DeFi protocol data, token prices, and on-chain events across 20+ EVM-compatible chains and Solana. Marketed as “the Firebase for Web3,” Moralis enables developers to build cross-chain decentralized applications without running blockchain nodes or writing complex data indexing pipelines.

Background

Ivan Liljeqvist built an audience as the creator of “Ivan on Tech,” a YouTube channel focused on blockchain development education. Moralis grew out of that ecosystem — initially as a backend service with integrated user authentication and database storage, it pivoted and expanded to focus on pure data APIs as the market matured and competing services like Alchemy raised the API quality bar. Moralis differentiated by targeting mid-tier developers and rapid development use cases rather than enterprise production infrastructure.

Key Products

Product Description
NFT API Multi-chain NFT metadata, ownership, transfers, and spam filtering
Token API Token prices, balances, swaps, and metadata
Wallet API Full transaction history, net worth calculation, and token holdings per wallet
Streams API Real-time blockchain event streaming via webhooks
Auth API Sign-In With Ethereum (SIWE) and multi-chain wallet authentication
DeFi API Protocol positions, liquidity pool data, and yield data

Target Market

Moralis targets hackathon developers, side projects, and early-stage DApp teams who prioritize development speed over maximum infrastructure control. Its free tier and accessible documentation make it popular in crypto bootcamps and educational settings. Production applications with high volume typically migrate to Alchemy or custom infrastructure for cost efficiency and reliability.

Chain Support

Moralis supports 20+ chains including Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Avalanche, Fantom, Cronos, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and Solana — with unified API responses regardless of chain, simplifying cross-chain development.

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