Coinbase Abu Dhabi License Opens Tokenized Securities Hub

Coinbase won regulatory permission in Abu Dhabi to launch an international hub for tokenized securities. The approval lets the exchange arrange investment deals and custody those products.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market granted Coinbase a Financial Services Permission, placing the company inside ADGM's regulated financial system.

Securities issued through this framework will be backed by underlying shares and supervised directly by the FSRA. Holders of verified accounts receive economic rights tied to the assets. Some shareholder rights, including voting, will depend on vesting conditions attached to the tokens.

People can hold these products in digital wallets without a traditional brokerage account or banking relationship. Coinbase said all transfers remain subject to sanctions screening, and assets can be frozen or seized at the wallet level if required.

Coinbase announced the approval on August 11, calling it one of the biggest steps toward building an open financial system. Abu Dhabi was already part of the company’s tokenization plans. Coinbase launched Project Diamond as a platform for issuing blockchain-based financial instruments. The platform received in-principle approval from ADGM regulators and its first product was a short-term discount note issued in USDC on Coinbase’s Base blockchain. In December 2024, it added Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol for cross-chain connectivity and verified data.

Coinbase Institutional co-CEO Brett Tejpaul said ADGM’s 2018 virtual asset framework was a key reason for choosing the jurisdiction. He said no major financial center has built a framework treating tokenized equities as securities, blockchain tokens and DeFi assets at the same time.

Coinbase isn’t the first company to offer blockchain-based investment products in Abu Dhabi. Ondo Finance received approval in March for tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds, structured as equity-linked notes giving exposure to Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla. BNY launched Bitcoin and Ether custody services in ADGM in May, working with Finstreet Limited and the ADI Foundation, and plans to support tokenized assets and stablecoins.

Coinbase has already rolled out tokenized equities outside Abu Dhabi. In June, it launched tokenized shares linked to SpaceX, Nvidia, Google, Strategy and Bitmine, each backed one to one.

The Abu Dhabi hub is part of a wider expansion across the United Arab Emirates. Coinbase is building its derivatives business separately from Dubai.

Consulting firm Kearney and tokenization company Ctrl Alt estimate tokenized real world assets across the Gulf Cooperation Council could reach close to $500 billion by 2030, with private markets, investment funds and bank deposits making up a large share. Abu Dhabi based company KAIO raised $8 million in April from investors including Tether and Nomura-backed Laser Digital. KAIO has worked on bringing investment products from BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane onto public blockchains.