Coinbase — the Criteria assessment stage
Software engineering roles — initial screen
Coinbase uses the CCAT at the initial screening stage for software engineers: a senior engineer’s first-hand account from April 2025 describes taking “the initial CCAT exam” before the CodeSignal round, and candidates on Blind describe the CCAT’s signature — 50 questions in 15 minutes, a mix of pattern and maths questions, under 20 seconds each. Candidates also report a Likert-style culture questionnaire alongside the test. The CCAT is Criteria’s 50-question, 15-minute multiple-choice test — verbal ability, maths and logic, and spatial reasoning mixed together, no calculator, fixed test versions rather than an adaptive engine — on which the average candidate answers about 24 correctly and fewer than 1% finish all 50.
Where the assessment sits in the process
- 1Step 1 — Application and recruiter contact
The CCAT invitation arrives at the initial screen, before any coding assessment.
- 2Step 2 — CCAT + culture questionnaire
50 multiple-choice questions in 15 minutes; candidates also report a Likert-style culture questionnaire at this stage.
- 3Step 3 — CodeSignal
Coding assessment after the CCAT (first-hand 2025 report).
- 4Step 4 — Onsite interviews
Interview loops follow for candidates who clear the earlier stages.
Assessment components
The CCAT step is confirmed by a first-hand April-2025 interview report and corroborated on Blind and Glassdoor; the culture questionnaire comes from an adjacent candidate report. We do not build a CCAT simulator — Criteria’s official free practice tests show the format.
Preparing for the CCAT
The CCAT is 50 questions in 15 minutes. We don’t build a simulator for it — good free full-length ones already exist, starting with Criteria’s own — so our CCAT page gives you the confirmed format and scoring facts and points you to them.
Read the CCAT guideGameAssessmentPrep is an independent practice platform, not affiliated with or endorsed by Criteria Corp. CCAT, Cognify and Emotify are Criteria Corp product names, used here to identify the assessments. Process details reflect research as of August 2026 and employers change their assessments. GameAssessmentPrep is not affiliated with Coinbase.