Skip to main content

Coinbase — Spot + Futures (Perpetual & Expiring)

Coinbase is the US-regulated option in the TVH lineup. TVH uses Coinbase's Advanced Trade API (not the legacy v2 API), and supports both Spot and Futures (Perpetual + Expiring). On Spot, the adapter auto-transforms TradingView-style symbols (BTCUSD, BTCUSDT) into Coinbase's dashed format. On Futures, symbol suffixes are strict — Coinbase silently rejects wrong formats.

TL;DR
  • 2 exchange identifiers: coinbase-spot (Spot), coinbase (Futures)
  • Use Coinbase Advanced Trade API, not the legacy v2 API
  • Symbol format: BTC-USD (spot, auto-transformed from BTCUSD / BTCUSDT) · BTC-USD-PERP (perpetual futures, strict) · BTC-26DEC26-CDE (expiring, strict)
  • No demo, no testnet — Coinbase doesn't offer a paper-trading endpoint TVH can route to
  • Secret is an EC private key (PEM block), not a short HMAC string
  • All variants use https://alerts.tv-hub.org
Open Coinbase accountAffiliate link — TradingView Hub may earn a commission at no cost to you.

Webhook URL​

Both Coinbase markets (Spot + Futures) use the default endpoint:

API key creation​

Coinbase uses Advanced Trade API keys (not the legacy v2 keys). There's no third-party binding — the IP whitelist is optional — and no passphrase. The secret is an EC private key, not a short HMAC string.

  1. Log in at coinbase.com, open the account menu and go to Settings → API.

    Coinbase account menu — open Settings

  2. Click + New API Key. In the Create API key dialog: set a nickname, pick the Portfolio (usually Default), enable View + Trade (for futures also Futures Trade), and leave Transfer off. The IP whitelist is optional. Click Create & download.

    Coinbase Create API key — nickname, portfolio, View + Trade, optional IP whitelist

  3. A certificate file downloads and Coinbase shows the key + secret. Add them to TVH at Account → Settings → API Keys:

    • API Key field → the value that starts with organizations/...
    • API Secret field → the entire EC private key block, from -----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY----- to -----END EC PRIVATE KEY-----
    • Pick coinbase-spot (spot) or coinbase (futures) in the Exchange dropdown.

Permissions deep-dive​

Coinbase splits permissions more granularly than other exchanges. Pick exactly what you need:

PermissionGrant?Why
View Accounts✅ RequiredTVH needs to read balances
Trade✅ RequiredPlace + cancel orders
Futures Trade✅ if using futuresRequired for coinbase identifier
Transfer❌ SkipNot needed
Convert❌ SkipNot needed
Withdraw❌ NeverTVH never withdraws

Variants​

Coinbase Spot​

FieldValue
Exchange identifiercoinbase-spot
Webhook URLhttps://alerts.tv-hub.org
Symbol formatBTC-USD, ETH-USD, SOL-USD — dash separator
Max leveragen/a (spot)
API generationCoinbase Advanced Trade API
PermissionsView + Trade
Sub-account support❌ Not supported in TVH
Demo support❌

Example payload:

{
  "token": "your-tvh-token",
  "exchange": "coinbase-spot",
  "pair": "BTC-USD",
  "isMarket": true,
  "isBuy": true,
  "units": 50,
  "unitsType": "percentBalance"
}
Coinbase Spot auto-transforms TradingView symbols

The Spot adapter automatically rewrites BTCUSD → BTC-USD and BTCUSDT → BTC-USDC when the pair has no dash. You can paste TradingView chart symbols directly (e.g. from CBSE:BTCUSD or BINANCE:BTCUSDT) without manual reformatting. The canonical BTC-USD / BTC-USDC format also works as-is.

USDT → USDC silently rewires to a different market

Auto-transform converts BTCUSDT → BTC-USDC, not BTC-USDT. Coinbase Spot does not list USDT pairs directly — the adapter rewires you to the USDC equivalent. This is intentional, but surprising the first time. Quote your balances in USDC if you plan to trade Coinbase Spot via TradingView USDT alerts.

Symbol format gotcha​

On a TradingView Coinbase chart, the symbol displays as BTCUSD — no separator, no suffix. Coinbase's API expects a dashed format.

You want to tradepair valueAdapter behaviour
Spot BTC/USDBTC-USD (or paste BTCUSD directly)✅ Auto-transformed
Spot BTC/USDCBTC-USDC (or paste BTCUSDT)✅ Auto-transformed — USDT is rewritten to USDC
Perpetual BTC futuresBTC-USD-PERP, or TradingView's BTCUSD.P✅ A -PERP or .P suffix is resolved to the live perpetual by base asset
26 Dec 2026 BTC futuresBTC-26DEC26-CDE (date + CDE)❌ Strict — exact contract symbol only

For perpetuals, send either the dashed BTC-USD-PERP or TradingView's native BTCUSD.P notation — the adapter matches the base asset to the live Coinbase perpetual. Expiring (CDE) contracts are strict: the symbol must be the exact dated form. A bare BTCUSD (no suffix) or a wrong suffix on Futures returns a 400 from Coinbase, which doesn't echo a useful error message — TVH logs the raw 400 in the Activity Log. Coinbase Spot is forgiving because of the auto-transform, but only for the two canonical TradingView prefixes (BTCUSD, BTCUSDT).

See also: Symbol format reference.

Common Coinbase quirks​

  • Wrong API product. Generating a legacy Coinbase Pro / Coinbase v2 key by mistake. Always pick Advanced Trade when creating.
  • Symbol format silently rejected on Futures. A bare BTCUSD (no suffix) or a wrong suffix on Futures gets a useless 400 from Coinbase. Send a perpetual as BTC-USD-PERP or BTCUSD.P, and an expiring contract as its exact BTC-26DEC26-CDE form. Spot is forgiving — the adapter auto-transforms BTCUSD / BTCUSDT (the latter becomes BTC-USDC).
  • EC private-key secret is multi-line. When pasting into TVH, the full PEM block (including the -----BEGIN EC PRIVATE KEY----- / -----END EC PRIVATE KEY----- lines) is what Coinbase expects.
  • No sub-account routing in TVH. Coinbase Portfolios are a separate concept — TVH currently treats whichever portfolio the key belongs to as the only target.
  • No demo / testnet. Practice mode is not available. Trade small first.

Feature support​

FeatureSpotFutures
Market & Limit orders✅✅
Multiple TPs✅✅
Trailing Stop⚠️ via reduce-only✅
Scaled Orders✅✅
useFixedSize✅✅
useEntireAccountBalance❌❌
Sub-Accounts❌❌
Limit Order Chasing⚠️⚠️
Demo Account checkbox❌❌

Full matrix: Exchange Quirks Reference.