Coinbase Breaks Ground in Abu Dhabi with Tokenized Securities Hub
Coinbase has secured regulatory approval in Abu Dhabi to establish a global hub for tokenized securities, marking a significant step into regulated capital markets. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market granted Coinbase Financial Services Permission on August 11, allowing the company to arrange investment deals and hold custody of securities tied to underlying equity.
The new permission builds directly on Project Diamond, a platform set up by Coinbase to issue blockchain-based financial instruments. This includes a short-term discount note denominated in USDC, initially limited to registered institutional investors outside the United States.
Coinbase's Institutional co-CEO Brett Tejpaul pointed out that Abu Dhabi's regulatory groundwork was 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,' he said.
The company's UAE footprint now splits along functional lines, with its tokenization and on-chain capital markets business centered in Abu Dhabi, while its global derivatives operation is being developed out of Dubai. Abu Dhabi's appeal to Coinbase didn't appear overnight, ADGM introduced one of the first virtual asset regulatory frameworks back in 2018.
Kearney and Ctrl Alt estimate that tokenized real-world assets across the Gulf Cooperation Council could reach roughly $500 billion by 2030.