Coinbase has received a Financial Services Permission from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) to establish its international tokenisation hub in ADGM, the international financial centre of Abu Dhabi, the Capital of the United Arab Emirates. This is the most significant step it has taken yet toward building the infrastructure for a more open, more accessible global financial system.
Coinbase has received the licence from the FSRA of ADGM, clearing it to arrange deals in investments and provide custody in order to facilitate its launch of tokenised securities. This is the foundation for its international tokenisation hub in Abu Dhabi.
Four billion people worldwide cannot access capital markets. Not because they lack the means, but because the system was never built for them. Investable opportunities are out of reach, and the cost of participation is too high. This licence is the first step toward changing that.
The tokenised securities registered and issued in ADGM are fully backed by underlying shares under the supervision of the FSRA and are verified by token holders, who receive full shareholder rights, including dividends and voting.
“ADGM issued one of the world’s first regulatory frameworks for virtual assets in 2018. That reflected a genuine institutional commitment to innovation-forward regulation, executed with the rigour that global financial markets require. No major financial centre has yet built a framework that treats tokenised equities simultaneously as securities, Blockchain-native tokens and DeFi-composable assets,” said Brett Tejpaul, Co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional.
