Coinbase just secured a UK investment services license. The move lets the exchange go way beyond spot crypto trading.
Here’s the breakdown. Institutional and advanced traders get access to perpetual futures tied to crypto, plus equities and commodities. Retail users? They’ll be able to trade equities on the platform. Coinbase calls this its biggest UK product expansion since entering the market — part of its vision for an “everything exchange” that blends crypto and traditional finance under one roof.
The timing matters. The UK is building a new crypto regulatory regime that starts accepting applications in September and takes full effect in October 2027. That’ll require trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers, and staking providers to get FCA authorization. Coinbase is getting ahead of it.
One catch: UK retail access to crypto derivatives is still restricted. The FCA banned those in 2021. It has since reopened retail access to certain crypto ETNs, but the derivative ban stays in place. So Coinbase’s product split — derivatives for pros, equities for everyone — reflects the rules as they stand.
FCA research cited by Coinbase says roughly 7 million UK adults hold crypto. A quarter of non-owners said they’d be more likely to participate under clearer regulation. That’s the audience Coinbase is positioning for.
