Coinbase just got its third UK license. UK retail can now trade stocks there, ahead of the full crypto rulebook.
Coinbase now holds three regulated UK layers: crypto registration, e-money, and investment services. The everything-exchange build is happening before UK regulation can catch up.
CryptoVibe Desk · coinbase · uk · regulation
- →Coinbase received UK investment services authorization today, enabling equity and commodity derivatives for institutions and stock trading for UK retail customers for the first time.
- →This is Coinbase's third UK regulatory layer, arriving 15 months before the UK's full crypto framework takes effect in October 2027.
- →Watch for Coinbase to announce UK tokenized equity products next: the regulatory path is now open, and the products already exist in other non-US markets.
- investment services authorization → A UK financial regulator license that lets a company offer traditional financial products like stocks and derivatives to customers.
- perpetual futures → A type of contract that lets traders bet on whether an asset's price will go up or down, with no set end date, often using borrowed money to make bigger bets.
Coinbase picked up its third UK license today. The Financial Conduct Authority granted investment services authorization, a third regulated layer on top of its existing FCA cryptoasset registration and e-money license. Coinbase is officially a multi-asset venue in the UK.
The authorization unlocks stock and commodity perpetual futures for institutional and advanced traders. UK retail customers get something new: the ability to buy equities on Coinbase for the first time.
Coinbase has called this the "everything exchange" play. US customers already trade stocks and ETFs on Coinbase. Non-US customers can already access USDC-settled stock perpetual futures on names like Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla. Today's authorization extends that build to British retail.
The UK's full crypto regulatory framework doesn't land until October 2027. Coinbase is building the multi-asset venue now, 15 months ahead of the full rulebook. If you're a UK retail investor who wants stocks and crypto in one app, you don't have to wait for regulation to catch up.
Coinbase has also flagged plans for tokenized stocks backed one-for-one by US equities, dividends included, for eligible non-US users. Today's authorization provides the regulatory path for those products in the UK too.
Coinbase is leaving money on the table by waiting to ship tokenized stocks to UK retail. The license is in hand. The products exist for other non-US markets already. Every month of delay before Q3 2026 is an opening Robinhood will take.
A Coinbase UK product page for tokenized stocks or equity derivatives going live before end of Q4 2026: that would confirm the investment services authorization is being used, not filed and shelved.
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