Coinbase picks Abu Dhabi for its global tokenized asset push

Coinbase (COIN) is setting up its international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi, giving the crypto exchange a regulatory base for bringing traditional securities onchain outside the U.S.

The company said Tuesday it received Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), allowing it to arrange investment deals and provide custody for tokenized securities.

Coinbase said it plans to use the license to offer digital securities backed by underlying shares. The tokens will be registered and issued in ADGM under FSRA oversight.

The move comes as tokenization is gaining traction across traditional finance, with global asset managers and banks putting funds, bonds, private credit and stocks on blockchain rails. Supporters see the technology as a way to make securities easier to transfer around the clock, settle trades near instantly, and eventually use them as collateral in onchain markets.

Abu Dhabi has positioned itself as a key testing ground for that movement. ADGM introduced a regulatory framework for virtual assets in 2018 and has since attracted crypto and tokenization firms seeking a regulated base in the region.

“No major financial center has yet built a framework that treats tokenized equities simultaneously as securities, blockchain-native tokens, and DeFi-composable assets,” said Brett Tejpaul, co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, the exchange’s arm focused at institutional digital asset investors.

Coinbase have already established a footprint in United Arab Emirates before Tuesday’s regulatory approval. In 2023, the firm’s asset management arm initiated Project Diamond to let institutional investors issue and trade digital debt instruments using Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based blockchain network. Last, month, Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, tokenized one of its private-market investment strategies through UAE-based infrastructure provider KAIO on blockchain including Base, with Coinbase itself taking exposure to the fund.

The Abu Dhabi operation will sit alongside Coinbase’s derivatives business in Dubai, the company said, giving it two bases in the UAE for expanding businesses outside the U.S.