Coinbase has picked Abu Dhabi as the base for a new global hub built around tokenized securities Abu Dhabi regulators have now cleared it to operate, a move that pulls the exchange deeper into the world of on-chain stocks, debt instruments and custody services backed by real shares. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market granted Coinbase Financial Services Permission on Aug. 11, letting the company arrange investment deals and hold custody of securities tied to underlying equity. It’s a step that pushes Coinbase past crypto trading and into the plumbing of regulated capital markets.
Key takeaways
- ADGM’s FSRA gave Coinbase Financial Services Permission on Aug. 11 to arrange deals and provide custody for tokenized securities backed by shares.
- Verified holders get economic rights tied to the underlying assets, though voting and some other shareholder rights depend on vesting conditions.
- Investors can hold the securities in digital wallets without a traditional brokerage account or correspondent banking relationship.
- Coinbase’s Project Diamond platform, which issues blockchain-based debt instruments, integrated Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol in December 2024.
- Abu Dhabi will host Coinbase’s tokenization and on-chain capital markets business, while Dubai runs its global derivatives operation.
- Kearney and Ctrl Alt estimate tokenized real-world assets across the Gulf Cooperation Council could reach roughly $500 billion by 2030.
Coinbase Secures Regulatory Approval in Abu Dhabi for Tokenized Securities Hub
Coinbase now sits inside ADGM’s regulated financial system, with formal permission to build out the infrastructure needed to issue traditional assets as blockchain tokens. That single approval covers two distinct functions: arranging investment deals and holding custody, both tied to a planned business built around tokenized securities backed by real shares and supervised directly by the FSRA.
Coinbase described the license as a milestone for its broader ambitions. “This is the most significant step we have taken yet toward building the infrastructure for a more open, more accessible global financial system,” the company said when it announced the approval on Aug. 11.
Scope of Regulatory Permission and Investor Custody
The securities issued under the new framework will be backed one-to-one by underlying shares, with the FSRA overseeing the structure. That regulatory backing matters because it separates Coinbase’s new offering from unregulated synthetic tokens that merely track an asset’s price without any enforceable claim behind them.
Investors will be able to hold these products directly in digital wallets, skipping the need for a traditional brokerage account or a correspondent banking relationship to settle transactions. Coinbase said transfers will still go through sanctions screening, and assets can be frozen or seized at the wallet level if regulators require it — a detail that keeps the system tethered to conventional compliance even as it moves onto blockchain rails.
Rights Tied to Tokenized Securities
Verified holders of the tokenized products will receive economic rights linked to the underlying shares. But not every shareholder privilege transfers automatically. Voting rights and certain other entitlements depend on vesting conditions attached to the digital securities, meaning ownership on-chain doesn’t always equal full shareholder status from day one.
Project Diamond and the Technology Behind the Hub
The new permission builds directly on Project Diamond, the platform Coinbase set up earlier to issue blockchain-based financial instruments Project Diamond otteneva l’approvazione preliminare dai regolatori ADGM prima di emettere il suo primo debito destinato agli utenti istituzionali. product — a short-term discount note denominated in USDC and issued on Coinbase’s Base blockchain, initially limited to registered institutional investors outside the United States.
Coinbase Institutional co-CEO Brett Tejpaul pointed to ADGM’s early regulatory groundwork as a deciding factor behind the jurisdiction choice. “No major financial center has yet built a framework that treats tokenized equities simultaneously as securities, blockchain-native tokens, and DeFi-composable assets,” Tejpaul said.
Chainlink Integration and Cross-Chain Access
In December 2024, Project Diamond integrated Chainlink’s Attraverso il Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, gli istituti hanno accesso a connettività tra catene e dati verificabili per asset tokenizzati. La piattaforma runs on Coinbase’s institutional stack, including custody services, on-chain wallets and USDC settlement on Base, with Peregrine — an ADGM-regulated entity operated by PSG Digital — named as its flagship user when the Chainlink link-up was announced.
Abu Dhabi’s Regulatory Track Record and Regional Competition
Abu Dhabi’s appeal to Coinbase didn’t appear overnight. ADGM introduced one of the first virtual asset regulatory frameworks back in 2018, laying rules for companies offering regulated crypto and blockchain services well before tokenization became a mainstream institutional theme. That head start helps explain why several major financial players have converged on the emirate for blockchain-based investment products.
Ondo Finance received approval in March for tokenized U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds inside ADGM, with its digital securities admitted for trading through a Multilateral Trading Facility regulated by the FSRA. Those products were structured as equity-linked notes offering exposure to companies including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla, opening another regulated door for investors outside the U.S. to access blockchain versions of familiar stocks.
Custody infrastructure has grown alongside those offerings. BNY launched Bitcoin and Ether custody services in ADGM in May through a partnership with Finstreet Limited and the ADI Foundation, and the bank has said it plans to support tokenized assets and stablecoins as well. BNY held $59.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration when it announced the service, bringing one of the world’s largest traditional custodians directly into Abu Dhabi’s digital asset sector.
Abu Dhabi for Capital Markets, Dubai for Derivatives
Coinbase’s UAE footprint now splits along functional lines. Its tokenization and on-chain capital markets business will be centered in Abu Dhabi, while its global derivatives operation is being developed out of Dubai. The company has described both as among its largest international projects outside the United States, and ADGM Chief Market Development Officer Arvind Ramamurthy framed the Coinbase deal as validation of the center’s approach. “As tokenisation becomes an increasingly important part of capital markets infrastructure, ADGM remains committed to supporting innovation that enhances market access, transparency and investor confidence, while upholding the highest standards of regulatory oversight,” Ramamurthy said.
Coinbase’s Tokenized Shares and the Wider Gulf Market
Coinbase already has a live tokenized equity business elsewhere, and Abu Dhabi extends that experiment into a fully regulated setting. A giugno, la borsa ha introdotto azioni tokenizzate collegate a SpaceX, Nvidia, Google, Strategy e Bitmine., saying the products were backed one-to-one by the underlying stock. Users could buy, hold, trade and redeem the assets on-chain while capturing economic exposure to any dividends tied to the shares — part of what Coinbase calls its Everything Exchange strategy, blending crypto with equities, commodities, lending and payments under one roof.
GCC Tokenization Market Could Reach $500 Billion by 2030
The bigger picture explains why Coinbase, Ondo Finance and BNY are all racing toward the same jurisdiction. La società di consulenza Kearney e l’azienda di infrastrutture di tokenizzazione Ctrl Alt hanno stimato nel corso dell’anno che gli asset tokenizzati del mondo reale nel Consiglio di Cooperazione del Golfo potrebbero approach $500 billion by 2030, with private markets, investment funds and bank deposits expected to make up the bulk of that figure and commodities alone projected at about $14 billion.
Abu Dhabi-based tokenization firm KAIO has also drawn institutional backing for the sector, raising $8 million in April from investors including Tether, Systemic Ventures, Further Ventures and Nomura-backed Laser Digital. KAIO has worked on bringing investment products from asset managers such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard and Hamilton Lane onto public blockchains through tokenized feeder funds, and at the time of its funding round managed roughly $100 million in on-chain assets while having processed more than $500 million in transactions. Taken together, these moves suggest Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as a proving ground where regulated tokenized securities and traditional finance are meant to operate under the same rulebook rather than in parallel systems.
FAQ
What regulatory approval did Coinbase receive in Abu Dhabi?
Coinbase got Financial Services Permission from ADGM’s FSRA to arrange deals and provide custody for tokenized securities backed by shares.
What rights do holders of Coinbase’s tokenized securities have?
Holders receive economic rights tied to the assets; some shareholder rights, like voting, depend on vesting conditions.
How does Coinbase’s Project Diamond platform support tokenization?
Project Diamond issues blockchain-based debt instruments and integrates Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol for broader access.
Why did Coinbase choose Abu Dhabi for its tokenized securities hub?
Abu Dhabi offers an early, comprehensive virtual asset regulatory framework dating back to 2018, supporting regulated blockchain capital markets.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.
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