The conductive CuCo 2 O 4 spinel coating is applied on the surface of the AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel by the dip-coating sol–gel process and it is evaluated in terms of the microstructure, oxidation resistance and electrical conductivity. The results show that the CuCO 2 O 4 coating forms a double-layer scale consisting of a Cr, Fe-rich subscale and Cu–Co spinel top layer after 500 h in air at 800 °C. This scale is protective, acts as an effective barrier against Cr migration into the outer oxide layer and alleviates the cathode Cr-poisoning. The oxidation resistance is significantly enhanced by the protective coating with a parabolic rate constant of 5.8 × 10 −13 gr 2 cm −4 s −1 , meanwhile the electrical conductivity is considerably improved due to inhibited growth of resistive Cr 2 O 3 oxide scale. The area specific resistance at temperatures between 550 and 800 °C is in the range of 11.5 and 22.2 mΩ cm 2 .