The Coinbase Product Landscape
Spot, monthly futures, long-dated contracts, and perpetuals — understand what each is, how they differ, and which ones US traders can actually access.
The Coinbase Crypto Product Landscape
When people say "trade Bitcoin on Coinbase" they might mean four completely different things. Coinbase offers spot trading, two types of regulated US futures, and offshore perpetuals — each with different mechanics, risk profiles, and legal availability.
The Four Product Types
| Product | Example ID | Expires? | US Legal? | Exchange | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spot | BTC-USD | Never | Yes | Coinbase Advanced | Buy/hold the asset |
| CFM Monthly Futures | BIT-29MAY26-CDE | Monthly | Yes (CFTC) | CDE | Short-term algo trading |
| CDE Long-Dated | BIP-20DEC30-CDE | Dec 2030 | Yes (CFTC) | CDE | Long-horizon strategies |
| Intx Perpetuals | BTC-PERP-INTX | Never | No | Coinbase Intx | Leverage, non-US only |
Why Does the Distinction Matter for Algo Traders?
Each product type has different mechanics that directly affect how you write and deploy strategies. The price you trade at, the cost of holding a position, when your position force-closes, and the margin required all depend on which product you use.
- Spot: You own the actual asset. Simple buy/sell. No expiry, no funding cost.
- Monthly futures: Settle cash on expiry date. Need active roll management.
- Long-dated contracts: Same as monthly but expire Dec 2030 — practically no roll overhead for years.
- Perpetuals (non-US): Never expire. Funding payments balance long/short demand every 8 hours.
Product IDs in the Algo Engine
When writing custom strategy code on this platform, the product ID you use in data.history() and orderTargetPercent() determines which market you trade:
// Spot: trade BTC-USD
data.history('BTC', 'close', 50)
orderTargetPercent('BTC', 0.5)
// CFM monthly futures (BIT = Nano Bitcoin, 0.01 BTC/contract)
data.history('BTC', 'close', 50) // engine resolves to BIT-29MAY26-CDE
orderTargetPercent('BTC-FUTURES', 0.5)
// Long-dated (engine resolves to BIP-20DEC30-CDE when contractDuration='long')
orderTargetPercent('BTC-FUTURES', 0.5)
// Intx perpetual (non-US only)
data.history('BTC-PERP', 'close', 50)
orderTargetPercent('BTC-PERP', 0.5, { leverage: 3 })Platform auto-resolves contract IDs
You never hardcode BIT-29MAY26-CDE in your strategy. The engine resolves BTC-FUTURES to the nearest-expiry contract based on your bot's contractDuration setting. When a contract expires, the engine either auto-rolls (virtual mode) or pauses and prompts you (live mode).
Geographic Summary for US Traders
US traders: Spot + CDE futures are fully available
Both CFM monthly futures (BIT, ET, SOL, etc.) and long-dated CDE contracts (BIP, ETP, etc.) are CFTC-regulated and accessible to US retail traders via Coinbase Advanced Trade. No geo-restriction.
Intx perpetuals are not available in the US
Coinbase International Exchange (Intx) perpetuals are only available to non-US residents. Attempting to connect a US account will return an error — the platform checks for an INTX portfolio on your account during bot launch.
- Coinbase offers four distinct product types with very different mechanics
- CFM nano-futures and long-dated CDE contracts are CFTC-regulated and US-legal
- Intx perpetuals use a funding rate mechanism and are not available to US residents
- The same underlying asset (e.g. BTC) can be traded across all four products simultaneously
- Long-dated contracts (BIP/ETP, Dec 2030) behave like perpetuals for most practical purposes