How to Switch Between USDT-M and Coin-M Futures Contracts?

Understanding Contract Types

1. USDT-Margined futures contracts use Tether (USDT) as the settlement and margin currency. All profit, loss, and margin requirements are calculated in USDT.

2. Coin-Margined futures contracts use the underlying cryptocurrency—such as BTC or ETH—as both the margin asset and settlement unit. Gains or losses directly affect the user’s balance of that coin.

3. The two contract types operate on separate trading engines with distinct risk parameters, funding mechanisms, and liquidation logic.

4. Account equity is segregated: USDT-M positions do not share margin with Coin-M positions, and vice versa.

5. Leverage settings, order types, and available trading pairs differ significantly between the two systems due to structural design choices.

Navigating the Trading Interface

1. Users must manually select the contract type before entering the trading dashboard—no automatic detection or default switching occurs.

2. On most exchanges, a toggle button labeled “USDT-M” or “Coin-M” appears prominently at the top of the futures section.

3. Clicking the toggle reloads the market list, order book, and position panel to reflect only instruments belonging to the selected category.

4. Switching does not cancel open orders or close active positions—it only changes the displayed interface context.

5. Historical trade records remain accessible but are filtered by contract type when viewing account statements or reports.

Managing Margin and Balance Separately

1. Each contract type maintains its own isolated wallet within the same exchange account.

2. Deposits into the USDT-M wallet cannot be used for Coin-M margin, and transferring BTC into the Coin-M wallet does not increase USDT-M equity.

3. Withdrawals require specifying the correct wallet; sending USDT from the Coin-M wallet will fail, and attempting to withdraw BTC from the USDT-M wallet results in an error.

4. Cross-margin mode, if supported, applies only within the same contract family—not across USDT-M and Coin-M domains.

5. Real-time margin ratio calculations exclude assets held in the opposite wallet, even if those assets hold substantial value.

Funding Rate Mechanics Divergence

1. USDT-M contracts calculate funding rates based on the difference between the perpetual contract price and the USDT-denominated index price.

2. Coin-M contracts derive funding from the spread between the perpetual quote and a BTC- or ETH-weighted index, expressed in the base coin.

3. Funding payments occur every eight hours but settle in different units—USDT for USDT-M, and BTC/ETH for Coin-M.

4. Positive funding in USDT-M means longs pay shorts in stablecoin, while positive funding in Coin-M means longs pay shorts in the underlying asset.

5. Funding rate volatility tends to be higher in Coin-M during sharp spot price moves because of the compounding effect on coin-denominated valuations.

Common Questions and Answers

Q: Can I hold both USDT-M and Coin-M positions simultaneously?Yes. The platform allows concurrent positions in both contract types as long as margin requirements are met separately in each wallet.

Q: Does switching contract types affect my API keys or trading bot configurations?No. API permissions and endpoints remain unchanged, but bots must explicitly target the correct contract type using designated symbol identifiers like “BTCUSDT_PERP” versus “BTCUSD_PERP”.

Q: Why does my unrealized PnL show zero after switching tabs?The interface resets the view to the newly selected contract type. Your previous positions still exist but are not displayed unless you return to their respective tab.

Q: Are stop-market orders handled identically across both contract types?No. Stop triggers behave differently due to pricing sources—USDT-M uses USDT-indexed price feeds while Coin-M relies on coin-based indices, leading to potential trigger timing discrepancies.