Coinbase has obtained investment services authorisation from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, allowing it to offer traditional financial products – including equities and derivatives – alongside its existing cryptocurrency offerings through a single platform. The licence, described as one of its most significant expansions since entering the UK market years ago, marks a major step in the exchange’s “everything exchange” strategy.
The approval enables retail customers to trade stocks on Coinbase for the first time, while institutional and advanced traders gain access to crypto, equity, and commodity perpetual futures. The company said the new authorisation will operate alongside its existing e-money licence and crypto registration, making it one of the most comprehensively regulated digital-asset firms in the country.
Coinbase credited the UK government and FCA for developing a forward-looking regulatory framework, noting that around seven million UK adults already own crypto. Citing FCA research, the exchange highlighted that roughly one-quarter of non-crypto owners would be more willing to participate under a clear regulatory regime. The approval comes ahead of the UK’s full crypto regulatory framework scheduled for October 2027, allowing customers immediate access to regulated investment products.
Earlier this year, Coinbase leveraged its EU Markets in Crypto-Assets licence to attract users with transfer bonuses ahead of the July 1 compliance deadline. The UK licence reinforces the company’s long-term plan to integrate crypto, stocks, derivatives, stablecoin payments, savings, borrowing, and eventually tokenised real-world assets on one platform.
