# Bitstamp API vs Coinbase Advanced Trade API (slim)

> Coinbase Advanced Trade scores 61.7 (C) to Bitstamp's 50.4 (D) for exchange market data. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade.md (~5,350 tokens) · this version ~2,930 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bitstamp-vs-coinbase-advanced-trade
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-03
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Coinbase Advanced Trade API scores 61.7 (C) on agent readiness against Bitstamp API's 50.4 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Bitstamp API leads on reliability. Both do exchange market data.

- Bitstamp API: D 50.4, rank #1002 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/bitstamp.min.md
- Coinbase Advanced Trade API: C 61.7, rank #493 of 1349 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/coinbase-advanced-trade.min.md
- Bitstamp API, good for An agent that needs a long-running regulated spot venue in the EU, UK and US with a sandbox and per-endpoint key permissions, and can do its own signing. Ahead on Reliability, 63 against 58.
- Coinbase Advanced Trade API, good for An agent trading a person's or a treasury's Coinbase account with its own key, where the person wants sandbox tests and portfolio scoping. Ahead on Schema & documentation, 80 against 51; Agent ergonomics, 73 against 58; Security & auth, 68 against 60; Maintenance & community, 57 against 28; Transparency & trust, 67 against 53. Also Free to start without a card.

| Category | Bitstamp API | Coinbase Advanced Trade API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 63 | 58 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 51 | 80 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 58 | 73 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 60 | 68 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 28 | 57 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 53 | 67 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Bitstamp API | Coinbase Advanced Trade API |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Bitstamp Ltd. | Coinbase, Inc. |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Licence | Proprietary hosted API under Bitstamp's terms of use, which our reader couldn't load | Proprietary hosted service under the Coinbase User Agreement, which answered a bot check and wasn't read. The official Python SDK coinbase-advanced-py is on GitHub |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-08-28 | 2026-10-01 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-05-27 |

Why the edge:
- Schema & documentation, Coinbase Advanced Trade API +29: Bitstamp API 51 (No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found on the API page or elsewhere (0). No llms.txt or Markdown docs (0). The single documentation page describes each endpoint's purpose and parameters, with notes such as the 10-second cache on open orders and the Travel Rule fields, but not when to use one endpoint over another (14 of 20). Parameters are typed with enumerations (margin mode CROSS or ISOLATED, margin multiplier 1 to 25, order types) and required fields marked (11 of 15). Signing examples in Python, Java and C++, and error families with numbered codes and explanations (13 of 15). Version v2 in the path and header, a dated changelog from 7 April 2023 to 28 August 2026, and a 410.001 code for deprecated endpoints, with no stated notice period (13 of 15). 0 + 0 + 14 + 11 + 13 + 13 = 51.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 80 (Public OpenAPI 3.1 spec (45 paths, 51 operations) and an AsyncAPI document (25). llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every docs page (10). Every operation has a summary and description, some one line, several with multi-sentence guidance for equities (14 of 20). Enums on product_type, granularity, order_status, time_in_forces, order_types, order_side and sort_by, with defaults (13 of 15). Examples in the docs and the sandbox's simulated errors, but the spec documents only a default error referencing grpc.gateway.runtime.Error, with no 4xx or 429 shapes (8 of 15). Paths carry /api/v3, the CDP changelog is dated, and the INTX retirement was announced with a date, but the spec's info.version is 0.1 and the October gateway change has no changelog entry (10 of 15). 25 + 10 + 14 + 13 + 8 + 10 = 80.)
- Maintenance & community, Coinbase Advanced Trade API +29: Bitstamp API 28 (Read as a closed service. The last dated API change is 28 August 2026, 67 days before the check (20). Only one dated entry in the last 90 days, after 1 July and 12 June (0). No public repository or issue tracker, support pages did not load and support.bitstamp.net did not resolve; a changelog exists (8 of 25). No official SDKs and no MCP registry presence of Bitstamp's own (0). No package to assess (0). 20 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 0 = 28.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 57 (Read as a closed hosted service. The last change to the API itself is the Global Derivatives gateway and INTX retirement of 1 October 2026, 33 days before this check; the Python SDK's v2.0.0rc1 is from 30 September (20 of 30). Dated changes in 90 days are the 1 October migration and the agents entries of 17 and 21 August, which run through Advanced Trade (12 of 20). A public changelog and a CDP Discord; SDK issues not read (8 of 15). Official Python SDK current, the rest samples (12 of 15). SDK CI not read (5 of 10). 20 + 12 + 8 + 12 + 5 = 57.)
- Agent ergonomics, Coinbase Advanced Trade API +15: Bitstamp API 58 (Graded on the REST API. Order book grouping and transaction time windows size responses, but there is no field selection and no MCP surface (15 of 25). Offset, limit, since and sort on transaction history, `until_id` windows on order-data replay (14 of 20). `response_code` and `response_explanation` name the failure, such as 400.009 insufficient balance, 403.004 trading blocked and 500.025 insufficient liquidity (16 of 20). No idempotency, since `client_order_id` duplicates are allowed since November 2023 and the docs say only to check the order id after a timeout; the kill switch limits damage (8 of 20). Few required parameters, but no official SDK in any language (5 of 15). 15 + 14 + 16 + 8 + 5 = 58.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 73 (Product lists filter by product_type and product_ids with limit and offset, candles take a granularity, but fields cannot be selected and the docs warn that product lists run to hundreds of entries (15 of 25). Cursor pagination with limit on orders and fills, filters by status, product and time (16 of 20). Error codes such as INSUFFICIENT_FUND, ORDER_NOT_FOUND and PERMISSION_DENIED are documented and can be simulated in the sandbox, though the spec gives no shapes (14 of 20). client_order_id on every order; no idempotency key on other writes (16 of 20). Few required fields, an official Python SDK and sample SDKs in three languages, but each request needs a freshly signed JWT (12 of 15). 15 + 16 + 14 + 16 + 12 = 73.)
- Transparency & trust, Coinbase Advanced Trade API +14: Bitstamp API 53 (The editorial half. A closed service whose terms of use loaded empty for our reader, so the licence and clauses are unknown (8 of 30). The privacy policy loaded empty, so retention and data handling are unchecked (0 of 30). A 410.001 code marks deprecated endpoints and the changelog records replacements such as `trading-pairs-info` by `markets`, with no notice period stated (8 of 20). Subprocessors and data locations are in the unread privacy policy (0). 8 + 0 + 8 + 0 = 16.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 67 (The editorial half. A closed service whose user agreement answered a bot check; the OpenAPI spec is public and the Python SDK is open on GitHub (12 of 30). Privacy facts per the coinbase-cdp-agentkit check of 1 October 2026 (Coinbase, Inc., processing countries, retention tied to need without numbers), not re-read (10 of 30). INTX endpoints retired on 1 October 2026 with a dated notice and a read-only grace period (12 of 20). Processing countries and provider categories per the same earlier check, no subprocessor list (8 of 20). 12 + 10 + 12 + 8 = 42.)
- Security & auth, Coinbase Advanced Trade API +8: Bitstamp API 60 (Revocable HMAC-SHA256 keys with per-endpoint permissions, an IP allow-list, single-use nonces, a timestamp window, sub-account scoping and a one-call kill switch for every key; no key expiry found (24 of 30). Permissions are chosen per endpoint and withdrawals can need Travel Rule address verification, but whether a withdrawal address allow-list exists sits in the unread account settings and no confirmation step is documented for API withdrawals (14 of 20). The API returns exchange data, not third-party text (10). No per-key audit log found; the account's transaction history is the record (4 of 15). security.txt names HackerOne's Robinhood programme but expired on 12 July 2026; no certification page was readable (8 of 20). 24 + 14 + 10 + 4 + 8 = 60.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 68 (CDP keys with view, trade and transfer permissions, a portfolio restriction, an optional IP allowlist, revocation in the portal, ES256 JWTs that expire after 2 minutes, and OAuth2 with wallet:* scopes for other people's accounts; no key expiry (28 of 30). View-only keys and portfolio scoping limit an agent, and transfer is a separate permission, but no withdrawal address allow-list for API keys and no confirmation step were found (14 of 20). The API returns no untrusted content (10). key_permissions reports a key's scope and account activity shows in the app, but no per-call log was found (6 of 15). HackerOne bug bounty named in a security.txt that expired on 1 June 2024; certifications unread behind a bot check (10 of 20). 28 + 14 + 10 + 6 + 10 = 68.)
- Reliability, Bitstamp API +5: Bitstamp API 63 (Read with the hosted lines on the HTTP API v2 at www.bitstamp.net/api/v2/. status.bitstamp.net is a Statuspage site with component history (20). Its feed for 5 August to 3 November 2026 has 17 entries, among them withdrawals failing on 14 networks for about 3 hours on 21 August, database maintenance with login failures and intermittent trading interruptions for about 1 hour 44 minutes on 23 September, a 39-minute halt of all markets on 5 August, and delistings and single-asset suspensions. One major (10). Rate limits with numbers, 400 a second and 10,000 per 10 minutes (15). Limit errors are named (400.002, 400.067, 400.068) but there is no Retry-After or backoff guidance, duplicate client order ids are allowed, and the only retry guidance is to check the order after a 500.016 timeout (8 of 15). No SLA found (0). Generally available (10). 20 + 10 + 15 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 63.); Coinbase Advanced Trade API 58 (Read with the hosted lines. status.coinbase.com is a Statuspage site with Coinbase Advanced Trade, API, US Derivatives and International Derivatives components (20). The incidents feed we could read runs from 16 September to 3 November 2026. In it Advanced Trade was degraded for 25 minutes on 21 September, the website had a 3-minute major on 14 October, converts were down 1 hour 4 minutes on 26 October, and no incident named the API; 5 August to 15 September was beyond the feed, so minor only for the seven weeks read (15 of 30). No REST rate limit with numbers was found; the older rate-limits page answers 404 and llms.txt lists none, while the WebSocket page gives 8 connections and 8 unauthenticated messages per second per IP (5 of 15). Orders take a client_order_id, but no 429 or Retry-After guidance was found for Advanced Trade (8 of 15). No SLA (0). REST and WebSocket are generally available; the Global Derivatives gateway is a month old and not marked beta (10). 20 + 15 + 5 + 8 + 0 + 10 = 58.)