Coinbase Establishes International Tokenization Center in Abu Dhabi with FSRA License
Coinbase is establishing its international tokenization center in Abu Dhabi, providing a regulatory base for the cryptocurrency trading platform to tokenize traditional securities outside the United States.
The company announced on Tuesday that it has obtained a financial services license from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), allowing it to arrange investment transactions and provide custody services for tokenized securities.
Coinbase stated that it plans to use this license to offer digital securities backed by underlying stocks. These tokens will be registered and issued in ADGM and will be regulated by the FSRA.
Token holders may receive shareholder rights, including dividends and voting rights, provided they meet certain conditions, and transactions will only require a wallet, without the need for traditional brokerage accounts.
This move further deepens Coinbase's presence in the UAE, having previously launched derivatives operations in Dubai.
From a market mechanism perspective, cryptocurrency exchanges are advancing RWA tokenization through regulatory-friendly jurisdictions in the Middle East, concentrating the demand for on-chain funds and assets on licensed platforms, while the domestic path for securities tokenization in the U.S. faces pressure.
Coinbase positions ADGM as a global hub for tokenization business.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Coinbase has chosen Abu Dhabi as its tokenization base outside the U.S., directly leveraging ADGM's relatively mature virtual asset and securities framework to bypass strict U.S. regulations on securities tokenization.
The capital path is reflected in obtaining regulatory licenses as a starting point, first gaining permissions for transaction arrangement and custody, then issuing digital securities backed by physical stocks, with the motivation to bring traditional assets on-chain while ensuring they possess securities attributes, blockchain-native qualities, and DeFi composability.
Similar to other crypto platforms and asset managers establishing tokenization hubs in the Middle East, Singapore, and elsewhere, the current stage is a transition from proof of concept to regulated issuance in the global RWA competition.
This essentially represents regulatory arbitrage and market infrastructure migration, where jurisdictions that establish tokenized equity frameworks ahead of major financial centers become the preferred bases for institutions and platforms.
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