Overview
- Coinbase announced on Tuesday that it has secured U.K. investment services authorisation (a MiFID‑style licence) that lets its U.K. entity offer regulated investment products beyond crypto.
- Retail customers will be able to trade equities on Coinbase for the first time, bringing stock trading into the same account that already handles fiat and crypto services.
- Institutional and advanced traders will gain access to derivatives, including crypto, equity, and commodity perpetual‑futures, under the new licence.
- The investment services authorisation will operate alongside Coinbase’s existing U.K. e‑money licence and FCA crypto registration, but the company says product rollouts will be phased and exact custody, redemption, and launch details remain to be finalised.
- The move advances Coinbase’s ‘Everything Exchange’ strategy and could speed the adoption of tokenised, on‑chain products in the U.K., while the full U.K. crypto regime is not due to take effect until October 2027.