Coinbase wins UK licence to offer stocks and derivatives

Coinbase’s UK entity has received investment services authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. The licence permits the firm to provide investment services and deal in financial instruments, including stocks and derivatives, within the UK regulatory framework.

The authorization sits alongside Coinbase’s existing Electronic Money Institution licence, held through its CB Payments Ltd. subsidiary, and its virtual asset service provider registration. Those permissions allow the company to issue e-money, connect to the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme, and offer crypto exchange services for residents.

Under the new permission, the firm plans to provide equities and derivatives on the same platform and login it uses for crypto. Institutional and advanced traders are expected to gain access to perpetual futures tied to cryptocurrencies, equities and commodities, while retail customers will be able to trade shares through their Coinbase account. Coinbase has already launched savings and borrowing products in the UK and plans to add tokenised real-world assets to its product mix.

In a statement, Coinbase said, “Today, a typical UK investor juggles a banking app, a brokerage account, a savings product and a crypto wallet. We think that era is ending.” The company added the authorization “will unlock the single biggest expansion of our UK product suite since we entered the market, and a major step toward bringing the everything exchange to life.”

Regulatory milestones that support the broader offering include a virtual asset service provider registration granted in February 2025, which permits crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto exchange services for UK residents, and the EMI licence that enables digital fiat payments and faster deposits and withdrawals. The FCA estimates about 7 million UK adults already hold crypto, and its research indicates roughly a quarter of non-holders would be more likely to take part if the sector were properly regulated.

The UK’s full crypto regulatory regime is scheduled to take effect in October 2027; the MiFID authorization gives Coinbase scope to expand product offerings before that date. The company has not provided firm rollout dates for equities and derivatives in the UK. How regulators define trading rules, custody arrangements and consumer protections for combined crypto and financial services will influence the timing and shape of the launch.