Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been granted a Financial Services Permission (FSP) by the Abu Dhabi Global Markets Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA). The license authorizes Coinbase to arrange investment transactions and provide custody services as the company establishes its international tokenization hub at ADGM.

The FSP represents Coinbase's most significant step to date toward building onchain capital markets infrastructure outside the United States, positioning Abu Dhabi as a jurisdictional anchor for the exchange's global tokenization strategy. The move places Coinbase alongside major traditional asset managers that have accelerated tokenization initiatives, including BlackRock, which launched its tokenized treasury fund BUIDL on Ethereum, and Franklin Templeton, which has expanded its own onchain money market offerings.

Under the FSRA-supervised framework, tokenized securities issued through the hub will be fully backed by underlying shares. Verified token holders will receive complete shareholder rights, including dividend entitlements and voting privileges. The model removes traditional barriers to entry: investors will not need a brokerage account or corresponding banking relationship, requiring only a digital wallet to participate.

Coinbase noted that every transfer will be subject to continuous sanctions screening, and assets can be frozen or seized at the wallet level when legally required. The architecture is designed to demonstrate that decentralized finance interoperability and regulatory integrity are not mutually exclusive.

Coinbase has established Abu Dhabi (ADGM) as our international tokenization hub. Our newly acquired FSRA license means that we can now bring global securities to anyone with a wallet. The next frontier of global finance is onchain, and we're building it from the UAE. pic.twitter.com/nwPvHrWJYw
— Coinbase (@coinbase) August 11, 2026

ADGM's Progressive Regime Attracts Institutional Tokenization

The announcement underscores ADGM's early leadership in virtual asset regulation, having issued one of the world's first comprehensive frameworks in 2018. Coinbase leadership emphasized that no major financial centre has yet constructed a regulatory regime treating tokenized equities simultaneously as securities, blockchain-native tokens, and DeFi-composable assets. The UAE's approach spans multiple regulators and free zones, including Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which oversees crypto licensing in the emirate and adds to the country's competitive positioning against jurisdictions such as Singapore, Switzerland, and the European Union under its MiCA framework.

ADGM representatives characterized Coinbase's decision as a strong endorsement of Abu Dhabi's expanding influence in global finance, citing the jurisdiction's internationally aligned standards as the foundation for responsible, scalable blockchain-enabled services.

The Abu Dhabi tokenization hub forms one component of Coinbase's broader United Arab Emirates strategy. Complementing a planned derivatives hub in Dubai, the initiative signals the exchange's conviction that the UAE can serve as the primary jurisdiction for next-generation financial infrastructure.

Coinbase underscored that approximately four billion people worldwide remain excluded from capital markets—not because they lack resources, but because legacy participation costs are prohibitively high. By issuing regulated, wallet-accessible securities onchain, the company aims to broaden investable access while preserving the oversight standards expected by global regulators and institutional participants.