Coinbase Wins Abu Dhabi Approval to Build Global Hub for Tokenized Securities

Coinbase has received Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, clearing the exchange to arrange investment deals and provide custody for a tokenized securities business. The approval establishes Abu Dhabi Global Market, the emirate’s international financial center, as the base for Coinbase’s international tokenization hub.

The authorization gives Coinbase a regulated foundation for issuing and supporting digital representations of traditional assets. The company described the move as its most significant step toward building infrastructure for broader access to global capital markets. TradingView, Coinbase and M2.co all identified the FSRA permission as the central development.

Coinbase’s planned offering will represent real-world securities on blockchain networks while keeping the assets within Abu Dhabi’s regulatory framework. The company is authorized to arrange investment transactions and safeguard the digital ownership records that underpin the products, according to the company announcement and Fortune’s coverage.

Investors will be able to hold the assets in digital wallets, reducing reliance on conventional brokerage accounts and correspondent banking relationships. Finance Yahoo described that structure as a way to reach customers through digital wallets, while Fortune reported that tokenized securities will be backed by real shares. The model addresses access and settlement barriers that have kept many investors outside traditional capital markets.

The hub strengthens Abu Dhabi’s effort to position itself as a regulated center for digital assets and blockchain-based finance. ADGM introduced a comprehensive virtual-asset framework in 2018, giving the financial center an early regulatory foothold as banks and asset managers began testing blockchain applications.

That regulatory history is now being paired with capital and institutional support. The UAE is using sovereign wealth funds to invest in the sector, including MGX’s reported $2 billion investment in a crypto exchange, Finance Yahoo reported. Fortune also tied Coinbase’s arrival to a broader Gulf Cooperation Council market in which tokenized funds, bonds, private credit and equities are gaining attention. The regional strategy gives Coinbase a jurisdiction for international expansion while giving Abu Dhabi another prominent financial-technology tenant.

Tokenization has moved beyond cryptocurrency trading into products associated with mainstream finance. Major asset managers and banks are bringing funds, bonds, private credit and equities onto blockchain infrastructure, creating demand for regulated issuance, custody and transaction services.

Coinbase’s Abu Dhabi operation addresses the institutional side of that transition. Custody matters because professional investors need a controlled system for holding and managing digital ownership records, Fortune reported. The FSRA permission also separates the hub from an unregulated experiment: Coinbase is building around licensed investment activity and custody within ADGM. That combination gives asset issuers, financial institutions and investors a clearer operating structure for blockchain-based securities.

Coinbase’s move places a major U.S. crypto exchange inside a jurisdiction that is actively courting regulated digital-asset businesses. Its Abu Dhabi base can support products aimed at international customers while connecting the exchange to the Gulf’s financial institutions, sovereign investors and expanding blockchain market.

The project’s success will depend on execution beyond the approval itself. Tokenized securities require compliant issuance, reliable asset backing, secure custody and sufficient investor demand. The arrangement also tests whether digital wallets can make cross-border access meaningfully simpler without removing the investor protections associated with regulated markets. Coinbase has secured permission to build the platform, but the commercial scale of the offering will depend on the products and partnerships that follow.

Coinbase’s next step is to launch tokenized securities through its newly authorized Abu Dhabi operation. The company’s stated focus is on creating infrastructure for onchain capital markets and expanding access to investment products through digital ownership and custody.

The announcement arrives as the Gulf region competes for blockchain finance activity and global institutions search for regulated ways to place traditional assets onchain. Abu Dhabi now has a high-profile operator with permission to arrange deals and provide custody, while Coinbase gains a base designed for international tokenization. The outcome will be measured by actual issuance, investor participation and the ability to connect blockchain settlement with established financial markets.