Glossary
What are COIN-M futures?
Also called: coin-margined futures, COIN-margined contracts, delivery and perpetual coin contracts
Updated Ninja Terminal team
Definition
COIN-M futures are Binance futures contracts that are margined and settled in the underlying cryptocurrency, such as BTC, instead of a stablecoin. They are inverse contracts: the contract is sized in USD, while profit, loss, and margin are counted in the coin. This means that your collateral value moves with the coin price.
With coin margin, you hold the underlying asset as collateral. If you hold BTC and trade a BTC COIN-M contract, a long position also keeps your balance in BTC terms.
How does the payoff work?
Contracts are sized in USD. For a long inverse contract:
PnL (in coin) = contracts x (1 / entry price - 1 / exit price)
For a short, the sign is reversed. See inverse perpetual for a worked example.
Two effects follow:
- The payoff is not linear in USD terms. Gains in coin terms shrink as the price rises.
- Margin is held in the coin, so a falling coin price lowers the USD value of your collateral at the same time as a long loses.
How do you recognize them?
Binance lists COIN-M symbols with a USD suffix. The Binance developer docs show examples such as BTCUSD_PERP for a perpetual and a dated symbol such as BTCUSD_200925 for a delivery contract. COIN-M uses a separate API host from USD-M futures.
When do traders use them?
- To earn or hold the coin itself and avoid converting to a stablecoin.
- To hedge a spot holding in the same asset.
The trade-off is more complex risk: margin and PnL are both in a volatile asset. Liquidation is measured in coin terms.
Does Ninja Terminal support them?
Ninja Terminal currently supports USD-M (Binance) and linear (Bybit) perpetuals. It does not support COIN-M futures at this time.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between COIN-M and USD-M futures?
COIN-M contracts are margined and settled in the coin with an inverse payoff. USD-M contracts use a stablecoin and have a linear payoff.
Can COIN-M futures expire?
Binance COIN-M includes both perpetual and dated delivery symbols, as shown in its API examples. Perpetuals do not expire.