Coinbase spent years telling the world it was a crypto company. That framing is quietly changing. On July 7, the exchange announced it has received a UK investment services authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority — a MiFID-equivalent licence that opens two markets it couldn't touch before.
Institutional and advanced traders will gain access to perpetual futures across three asset classes: cryptocurrencies, equities, and commodities. For retail UK customers, the shift is perhaps more tangible: they'll be able to buy shares in companies like Apple or Amazon directly through the Coinbase app, without opening a separate brokerage account.
This fits into what Coinbase calls its "Everything Exchange" strategy — the idea that a customer shouldn't need to split their financial life between a crypto platform and a traditional broker. If someone already trusts Coinbase with their bitcoin, the reasoning goes, give them a reason to stay for equities too.
The timing is deliberate. Britain's full crypto regulatory framework isn't due until October 2027. Rather than waiting, Coinbase used an existing investment services pathway to secure regulated access to stocks and derivatives right now — giving it roughly 18 months of market-building before the broader crypto rules arrive and competitors pile in.
The broader pattern in the industry is hard to miss. Last month, Binance launched trading in over 7,000 US stocks. Robinhood entered Canada by acquiring WonderFi. The biggest crypto platforms are converging on a single ambition: own the full financial relationship with the customer, not just the crypto slice. Whether UK retail investors trust a crypto exchange with their share portfolio remains an open question — but Coinbase now has the licence to find out.
