TL Trading Lab

Tradable Symbols

Use this guide when you want to list symbols that are currently tradable on Binance Spot, or validate that a downloader config only contains symbols Binance currently reports as tradable. You can also filter for margin pairs and borrowable margin assets.

The command uses Binance Spot GET /api/v3/exchangeInfo. A symbol is treated as tradable when Binance returns status: TRADING.

Margin filters also use:

  • GET /sapi/v1/margin/allPairs for cross margin pairs.
  • GET /sapi/v1/margin/isolated/allPairs for isolated margin pairs.
  • GET /sapi/v1/margin/allAssets for borrowable margin assets.

Quick Start

  1. Install dependencies with uv sync --dev.
  2. List currently tradable symbols for a quote asset.
  3. Validate downloader configs before starting large downloads.
  4. Apply margin or borrowability filters only when those constraints matter.

Requirements

  • Python environment managed by uv.
  • Network access to https://api.binance.com.
  • No Binance API key is needed for Spot tradability or basic cross-margin filtering.
  • A Binance API key is needed for isolated-margin and borrowability filters. The command only sends the key as X-MBX-APIKEY for market metadata endpoints; it does not need your secret key.
  • Project dependencies installed:
uv sync --dev

List All Tradable Spot Symbols

Run:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py

Output format:

BTCUSDT,BTC,USDT,TRADING
ETHUSDT,ETH,USDT,TRADING

Each row is:

symbol,base_asset,quote_asset,status

List Tradable Symbols By Quote Asset

Most downloader configs use one quote asset, for example USDT. To list only currently tradable USDT pairs:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT

Other examples:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote BTC
uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote FDUSD

The quote filter is case-insensitive.

Require Market Order Support

If your workflow needs market orders, add --require-market-order:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --require-market-order

This keeps only symbols where Binance includes MARKET in the symbol’s allowed order types.

Filter Margin-Tradable Symbols

Use --margin when you only want symbols available for margin trading.

Cross margin:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin cross

This works without BINANCE_API_KEY. In no-key mode, the command uses Spot exchangeInfo fields:

isMarginTradingAllowed == true

or:

"MARGIN" in permissions

Isolated margin:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin isolated

Either cross or isolated margin:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any

--margin cross works without an API key by checking Spot exchangeInfo metadata. If you also pass an API key, the command additionally checks Binance’s cross-margin pair endpoint. --margin isolated checks the isolated-margin pair endpoint because Spot exchangeInfo does not fully describe isolated-margin availability.

Binance currently requires an API key header for the margin metadata endpoints. You can pass it either way:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --api-key your_key
BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any

Summary:

No API key needed:
  --quote USDT
  --quote USDT --margin cross

API key needed:
  --margin isolated
  --margin any
  --require-borrowable base|quote|both|any

Require Borrowable Assets

Margin availability means the pair can be traded on margin. Borrowability answers a different question: can the needed asset currently be borrowed?

For a short setup, you usually care whether the base asset is borrowable. For example, shorting BTCUSDT requires borrowing BTC:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --require-borrowable base

For a margin buy setup, you usually care whether the quote asset is borrowable. Buying BTCUSDT with borrowed quote requires borrowing USDT:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --require-borrowable quote

You can also require both assets, or either asset:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --require-borrowable both
BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --require-borrowable any

If you pass --require-borrowable without a value, it defaults to base:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --margin any --require-borrowable

Limit Output While Exploring

Use --limit when you only want to inspect a few rows:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --quote USDT --limit 20

--limit only affects printed list output. It does not change Binance’s definition of tradability.

Validate A Downloader Config

Before downloading data, validate the symbols in a YAML config:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --file configs/spot-1d.yaml

Validate that configured symbols are currently margin tradable and have borrowable base assets:

BINANCE_API_KEY=your_key uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --file configs/spot-1d.yaml --margin any --require-borrowable base

Example success output:

tradable: 5
OK BTCUSDT BTC/USDT
OK ETHUSDT ETH/USDT
OK ARBUSDT ARB/USDT
OK OPUSDT OP/USDT
OK SOLUSDT SOL/USDT

If every configured symbol is currently tradable, the command exits with status code 0.

If a symbol is missing or no longer in TRADING status, the command prints the problem and exits with status code 1. The command also exits with status code 1 when a symbol is tradable on Spot but filtered out by the requested margin or borrowability rules:

tradable: 1
OK BTCUSDT BTC/USDT
filtered out: 1
FILTERED SOLUSDT SOL/USDT
not trading: 1
NOT_TRADING OLDUSDT status=BREAK
missing: 1
MISSING MADEUPUSDT

Use this before running:

uv run python examples/run_download.py --file configs/spot-1d.yaml --freq daily

Put Symbols Into A Config

After choosing symbols, add them to your downloader config:

asset: spot
data_type: klines
interval: 1d
symbols:
  - BTCUSDT
  - ETHUSDT
  - SOLUSDT
start_date: 2024-01-01
end_date: 2026-04-06
destination_dir: ./data

Then validate the config:

uv run python examples/check_tradable_symbols.py --file configs/spot-1d.yaml

Important Distinction

This command checks the live Binance Spot exchange. It answers:

Is this symbol currently tradable on Binance Spot?

With margin flags, it can also answer:

Is this symbol currently listed as a cross/isolated margin pair?
Is the base or quote asset currently listed as borrowable?

It does not answer:

Does Binance historical data exist for every date I want?
Will a borrow request for my exact account, size, region, and risk state succeed?

Historical files on data.binance.vision can include symbols that are no longer tradable today. A symbol can also be currently tradable while still having a shorter listing history than your requested start_date.

For that reason, a normal workflow is:

  1. List or validate currently tradable symbols with examples/check_tradable_symbols.py.
  2. Run the downloader.
  3. Let the downloader report missing historical ZIP files, usually as 404 errors, when the requested date range predates a symbol listing or Binance does not publish that file.

Troubleshooting

  • Network failure: confirm that https://api.binance.com is reachable.
  • Margin or borrowability command says an API key is required: set BINANCE_API_KEY or pass --api-key. A secret key is not needed for this command.
  • Empty output with --quote: the quote asset may not have currently tradable spot pairs, or it may be misspelled.
  • Config validation exits 1: remove missing or non-trading symbols from the config, or relax the margin/borrowability flags if the filtered symbols are acceptable for your workflow.
  • Historical download still gets 404: tradability is current exchange status, not proof that every historical file exists.
  • Borrow check passes but an order/borrow still fails: Binance can apply account-specific, region-specific, risk, balance, and size constraints that are not proven by the public asset list.