Coal mass is deformed and fractured under stress to generate electrical potential (EP) signals. The mechanical properties of coal change with the adsorption of gas. To investigate the EP response characteristics of gas-bearing coal during deformation and fracture, a test system to monitor multi-parameters of gas-bearing coal under load was designed. The results showed that abundant EP signals were generated during the loading process and the EP response corresponded well with the stress change and crack expansion, and validated this with the results from acoustic emission (AE) and high-speed photography. The higher stress level and the greater the sudden stress change led to the greater EP abnormal response. With the increase of gas pressure, the confining action and erosion effect are promoted, causing the damage evolution impacted and failure characteristics changes. As a result, the EP response is similar while the characteristics were promoted. The EP response was generated due to the charge separation caused by the friction effect etc. during the damage and deformation of the coal. Furthermore, the main factors of the EP response were different under diverse loading stages. The presence of gas promoted the EP effect. When the failure of the coal occurred, EP value rapidly rose to a maximum, which could be considered as an anomalous characteristic for monitoring the stability and revealing failure of gas-bearing coal. The research results are beneficial for further investigating the damage-evolution process of gas-bearing coal.