This article addresses our spot margin offering. Learn more about Coinbase’s spot margin experience.
Margin trading is high risk and is not suitable for everyone. Leverage amplifies losses as well as gains, and you could lose all of your collateral, or more. If your margin reaches the liquidation threshold, we may sell your collateral without further notice. Depending on where you live, margin loans may be unregulated, with no regulatory recourse. Before you start, read the spot margin risk disclosures and who provides your spot margin services.
Spot margin trading lets eligible customers borrow against crypto collateral to increase buying power on spot markets. Go long by borrowing USD Coin (USDC) to buy more than your cash allows, or go short by borrowing crypto and selling it.
How crypto spot margin works
Every margin trade creates (all three):
A loan for the amount you borrow.
Ongoing interest on that loan.
Liquidation risk, meaning we may sell your collateral to repay the loan and interest if your margin ratio hits 100%.
Leverage
Leverage is how much larger your position is than your equity. For example, 2x leverage means your position is twice your equity. Available leverage varies by market, up to 10x. Higher leverage increases both potential gains and potential losses.
How crypto margin differs from other products
Stocks margin:
Stocks margin only allows you to buy long or short stocks.
Crypto margin only allows you to buy long or short crypto.
DeFi Borrow:
DeFi borrow allows you to borrow USDC using your crypto assets as collateral through Morpho’s onchain lending protocol.
Spot margin allows you to borrow crypto as part of a trade to go long or short.
Derivatives:
Derivatives allows you to trade a contract to get exposure to the asset.
Spot margin allows you to trade the actual asset.
Before you start
Margin portfolio: After onboarding, you get a Margin portfolio, which is separate from your Primary portfolio. Trade margin only from this portfolio. Only funds in your Margin portfolio are at risk of liquidation.
Liquidation: If you breach maintenance margin requirements, some or all of your collateral will be sold to repay your loans.
Interest: Accrues hourly while a loan is open and is charged every 6 hours. Charged interest is added to your loan amount.
Taxes: Margin trading has tax implications. Consult a tax professional.
Eligibility
United States
Standard eligibility requirements for your Coinbase entity apply. In addition, you must live in an eligible state within the United States and be an Eligible Contract Participant (ECP), as defined in Section 1a(18) of the Commodity Exchange Act. For an individual, this generally means at least $10 million in investable assets.
Get started
Advanced
Sign in to your Coinbase.com account or access the Coinbase mobile app.
Select the Advanced toggle.
Open a spot market and select the margin toggle in the order form or go directly to margin onboarding.
Verify your ECP status and agree to the margin Terms of Service.
Transfer funds to your margin portfolio.
Select the margin toggle in the order form, if necessary.
Enter an amount up to your buying power.
Review the order preview.
Confirm the order.
Your spot margin service providers
Spot margin on Coinbase can involve up to three Coinbase entities, each with a different role:
Spot execution: the entity that carries out your spot trades.
Custodian: the entity that holds the assets in your spot margin account, including any collateral.
Lender: the entity that lends you assets for margin trading.
Which entities serve you depends on where you live.
United States
For customers in the US, spot trading and custody services are offered by Coinbase, Inc. Coinbase is licensed to engage in Virtual Currency Business Activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Lending services are offered by Coinbase Credit, Inc. 248 3rd St #434, Oakland, CA 94607.
If margin becomes unavailable
If you’re put in Close-Only mode, the margin toggle turns off and becomes unavailable. This happens when:
We turn off margin for one asset. A banner appears on that asset's page.
We turn off all margin trading. A banner appears on every market page.
With open loans in Close-Only mode, you can sell spot assets for USD Coin (USDC) and buy only the assets you borrowed.
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