ABU DHABI, August 11, 2026 — Coinbase has received Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market, providing the regulatory foundation for its international tokenization hub in Abu Dhabi.
The permission allows Coinbase to arrange deals in investments and provide custody to facilitate the launch of tokenized securities in ADGM, the international financial center of the United Arab Emirates’ capital.
Tokenized securities backed by underlying shares
Coinbase said tokenized securities registered and issued in ADGM will be fully backed by underlying shares and operate under FSRA supervision. The company said investors will be able to transact in the digital securities using a wallet without establishing a brokerage account or correspondent banking relationship for transactions limited to the securities themselves.
Transfers will be subject to ongoing sanctions screening, according to Coinbase, which also said assets can be frozen or seized at the wallet level where required. Brett Tejpaul, co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, said ADGM’s approach reflects an institutional commitment to innovation-forward regulation combined with the rigor required by global financial markets.
Tejpaul said no major financial center has yet built a framework that simultaneously treats tokenized equities as securities, blockchain-native tokens and DeFi-composable assets.
Shareholder rights subject to vesting conditions
Coinbase said verified holders of the tokenized securities will receive rights associated with the underlying shares, including economic benefits from dividends and, subject to applicable conditions, voting rights. However, disclosures accompanying the announcement place conditions on how some of those rights can be exercised.
The digital securities will be subject to vesting conditions defined in their respective prospectuses, with only vested holders able to exercise certain rights, including voting with respect to the underlying shares. Dividends will be automatically reinvested, with both vested and unvested holders able to benefit economically from that feature, while only vested holders may be eligible for redemption rights.
A vested holder seeking to exercise applicable redemption rights must also have a brokerage or bank account capable of receiving the proceeds, subject to the terms and conditions of the relevant prospectus. Coinbase said such an account is not required for transactions limited to the digital securities themselves.
Coinbase’s broader UAE expansion
Arvind Ramamurthy, chief market development officer at ADGM, said Coinbase’s establishment of the hub reflects Abu Dhabi’s growing role in global finance and pointed to ADGM’s regulatory framework as a basis for developing blockchain-enabled financial services. He said ADGM remains committed to supporting tokenization in ways that enhance market access, transparency and investor confidence while maintaining regulatory oversight.
The Abu Dhabi initiative forms part of Coinbase’s broader expansion in the UAE. Coinbase said it is establishing two major businesses in the country: a hub for tokenized securities and onchain capital markets in Abu Dhabi and a global derivatives hub in Dubai.
The company said the two businesses reflect its confidence in the UAE as a home for the next generation of financial infrastructure.
Why it matters
The permission gives Coinbase a regulated foundation for bringing tokenized securities into an infrastructure where transactions can be conducted through blockchain-based wallets while the securities remain subject to financial-market oversight. The planned model illustrates how tokenization could change the infrastructure surrounding traditional securities without removing regulatory controls, combining underlying shares and associated holder rights with wallet-based transfers, sanctions screening and the ability to freeze or seize assets where required.
For Coinbase, the authorization extends its institutional strategy beyond crypto trading and custody into tokenized capital markets. Together with the company’s derivatives expansion in Dubai, the Abu Dhabi hub makes the UAE the home of what Coinbase describes as two of its most ambitious global businesses outside the United States.
