paralelo.bo API
Free API for Bolivia's parallel-market USD/BOB exchange rate, aggregated from peer-to-peer sources and refreshed every minute. No key, permissive CORS, tested example.
Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-08-21
What is the paralelo.bo API?
paralelo.bo publishes an aggregated parallel-market exchange rate between the US dollar and the Bolivian boliviano as a free JSON API with no key. It reports buy, sell and median quotes with the number of sources behind each snapshot.
Bolivia maintains an official pegged rate alongside a parallel market that trades well away from it, and the gap between the two is the story most Bolivian price data is really about. This API measures the parallel side by aggregating peer-to-peer sources, refreshing roughly every minute, and reports how many sources contributed via `sourceCount` — which is the field that tells you how much weight a given snapshot deserves.
Treat the numbers as an aggregate estimate rather than a quoted rate you could transact at, and read `sourceCount` and `methodologyVersion` before displaying anything. A snapshot built from two sources is a much weaker signal than one built from twenty, and `spreadPct` can be negative depending on how the buy and sell sides are collected. Label the figure as parallel-market and unofficial wherever it appears.
Quick facts
- Base URL
https://paralelo.bo/api/v1- Authentication
- No key or registration required.
- Rate limit
- No published limit. The underlying aggregate refreshes about once a minute, so polling faster gains nothing.
- Pricing
- Free.
- CORS
- Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript
- Official docs
- Read the docs
How to use the paralelo.bo API
Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-21, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.
1. Current parallel-market USD/BOB rate
GET https://paralelo.bo/api/v1/rate
curl 'https://paralelo.bo/api/v1/rate'const res = await fetch("https://paralelo.bo/api/v1/rate");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);import requests
res = requests.get("https://paralelo.bo/api/v1/rate", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json()){
"timestamp": "2026-08-21T07:41:10.483Z",
"buy": 12.23,
"sell": 11.57,
"median": 11.9,
"spreadPct": -5.4089,
"sourceCount": 2,
"methodologyVersion": "ec2-backend"
}Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
/rate | path segment | Required | Current aggregated snapshot as JSON. `/rate.txt` returns a bare number for shell use. rate |
/historical.json | path segment | Optional | Historical series of past snapshots. historical.json |
/openapi.json | path segment | Optional | Machine-readable OpenAPI description of the whole surface. openapi.json |
Response fields
timestampstring- ISO 8601 UTC time the snapshot was computed.
buy / sellnumber- Aggregated buy and sell quotes in bolivianos per US dollar.
mediannumber- Median across the contributing sources — more robust to an outlier quote than a mean.
spreadPctnumber- Percentage gap between the buy and sell sides; can be negative depending on source composition.
sourceCountinteger- How many sources fed this snapshot. A low count means a weak signal.
methodologyVersionstring- Identifier for the aggregation method, so you can detect when it changes.
What you can build with the paralelo.bo API
- Show the parallel-market rate alongside Bolivia's official peg
- Log the parallel rate over time for a research dataset
- Fetch a bare number from the `.txt` endpoint inside a shell script
- Gate a display on `sourceCount` so thin snapshots are labelled as such
Common errors and how to fix them
Stale timestamp
The aggregator has not refreshed recently.
Fix: Compare `timestamp` against now and show the age rather than presenting the number as live.
Low sourceCount
Few sources were available for this snapshot.
Fix: Not an HTTP error, but a data-quality signal. Suppress or annotate the figure below your own threshold.
Negative spreadPct
Buy and sell come from differently composed source sets.
Fix: Expected behaviour for an aggregate rather than a quoted two-way price. Do not assume sell exceeds buy.
paralelo.bo API — frequently asked questions
What is the parallel rate in Bolivia?
Bolivia operates an official pegged USD/BOB rate while a parallel market trades at a different level. This API measures the parallel side by aggregating peer-to-peer sources; it is not an official rate and should never be presented as one.
Is the paralelo.bo API free?
Yes. No key or account is required, and it returns permissive CORS headers so browser code can call it directly.
How often does the rate update?
Roughly once a minute. The `timestamp` field tells you exactly when the current snapshot was computed, which is more reliable than assuming a refresh interval.
What does sourceCount tell me?
How many independent sources contributed to the aggregate. A snapshot built from two sources carries far less confidence than one built from many, so it is worth surfacing or gating on.
Tools that pair with this API
Percentage Change Calculator
Work out the percentage increase or decrease between an old and a new value. See the absolute change and whether it went up or down, instantly and privately.
JSON Formatter
Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.
Average Calculator
Calculate the mean, median, mode, range, sum, count, minimum and maximum of a list of numbers. Free online average calculator with instant results.
paralelo.bo is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 2026-08-21; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.