> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cngn.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> Welcome to the cNGN API: programmatic access to Africa's first regulated stablecoin

## What is cNGN?

cNGN is a regulated Naira-backed stablecoin. The cNGN API gives businesses and third-party integrators programmatic access to mint, redeem, transfer, and bridge cNGN across multiple blockchain networks, with fiat on-ramps and off-ramps through Nigerian bank accounts.

## What you can do with the API

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Check balances" icon="wallet" href="/api-reference/get-balance">
    Retrieve your cNGN balance across supported networks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Accept deposits" icon="building-columns" href="/api-reference/get-virtual-account">
    Collect Naira through dedicated or temporary virtual bank accounts and receive cNGN.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Redeem to fiat" icon="money-bill-transfer" href="/api-reference/redeem-asset">
    Convert cNGN back to Naira, settled directly to a Nigerian bank account.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Withdraw on-chain" icon="arrow-up-right-from-square" href="/api-reference/withdraw">
    Send cNGN to any whitelisted external wallet address.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bridge across chains" icon="bridge" href="/api-reference/bridge">
    Move cNGN between supported blockchain networks.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Track transactions" icon="list-check" href="/api-reference/get-transactions">
    Query your full transaction history with pagination.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Base URL

All API requests are made to:

```text theme={null}
https://api.cngn.co/v1/api
```

The same base URL serves both environments. Your API key prefix (`cngn_test` or `cngn_live`) determines whether a request runs against the sandbox or production environment. See [Authentication](/guides/authentication).

## Security model

The cNGN API is designed for institutional-grade security. Every integration uses three layers:

1. **API key authentication**: a Bearer token identifies your business and environment.
2. **IP whitelisting**: requests are only accepted from IP addresses you have whitelisted in your dashboard.
3. **Payload encryption**: request bodies are encrypted with AES-256-CBC, and response payloads are encrypted to your Ed25519 public key. See the [Encryption guide](/guides/encryption).

## SDKs

Official libraries for TypeScript, Python, PHP, and Java handle authentication and payload encryption for you.

<Card title="Libraries & SDKs" icon="cubes" href="/sdks" horizontal>
  Browse the supported libraries and their repositories.
</Card>

## Next steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get your API keys">
    Generate test and live API keys from the cNGN merchant dashboard.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Follow the Quickstart">
    Make your first authenticated request in the [Quickstart](/quickstart).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set up encryption">
    Configure request encryption and response decryption in the [Encryption guide](/guides/encryption).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Go live">
    Run through the [Going Live Checklist](/going-live) before switching to production keys.
  </Step>
</Steps>