Coinbase began rolling out US equity trading to eligible UK users on August 6, letting them buy and sell nearly 4,000 American stocks from inside the same app they use for crypto and stablecoin holdings. The company described it as the first time a crypto-native trading platform has offered direct access to US equities in the UK.
Users can fund purchases instantly with GBP or USDC and start with as little as £1 through fractional share investing. Coinbase One members earn uncapped rewards on their USDC balances while using the service. The rollout is phased, with eligible UK users gaining access progressively.
"We see a future where the divide between how an investor manages traditional investments and digital assets disappears," Coinbase wrote in its launch announcement.
Orders route through Coinbase Capital Markets Inc, a US FINRA-registered broker-dealer, and are executed, cleared, and settled by a third party. US shares are custodied by Apex Clearing in the United States, Keith Grose, Coinbase's Regional Managing Director for the UK and Europe. CB Payments Ltd, the entity behind the UK product, is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for investment services under register number 1045733.
How this fits into the Everything Exchange strategy
The stock launch follows two earlier UK product additions this year. Coinbase introduced savings accounts powered by ClearBank, offering eligible UK users 3.75% AER interest paid daily with instant access and FSCS protection on GBP. It also launched crypto-linked borrowing on Morpho, allowing users to borrow USDC by putting up BTC, ETH, or cbETH as collateral.
Together, those products form the foundation of what Coinbase has called its Everything Exchange strategy, a long-term plan to consolidate crypto trading, stocks, commodities, derivatives, lending, payments, and AI tools into one platform. Grose said that Coinbase plans to introduce additional products across both the UK and European Union over the coming months as it builds out compliant infrastructure.
The company chose conventional US equities over tokenized stocks for the initial launch. Grose said Coinbase views tokenized equities as an important part of financial markets in the future but intends to work with regulators before introducing them. The current rollout delivers direct equity access rather than the tokenized version Coinbase has explored in other markets.
The regulatory clearance that made equities possible
The launch would not have been possible without the MiFID investment services authorization Coinbase obtained from the FCA earlier this year. That license expanded what the company could legally offer UK retail investors beyond its existing e-money and crypto registrations. The authorization permitted Coinbase to add equities for retail customers and derivatives for professional traders.
Grose said the UK's upcoming crypto regulatory framework also gives Coinbase the certainty needed to continue expanding. The FCA has finalized its rules, and the authorization gateway is expected to open in September ahead of the regime taking effect in October 2027.
Coinbase said survey data consistently shows UK retail investors participate in stock markets at lower rates than their US counterparts. The company believes that 24/5 access to US stocks through an app already embedded in users' daily crypto activity could increase retail participation in equities.
USDC's expanded role inside the Coinbase ecosystem
The option to fund stock purchases directly with USDC adds another use case for the stablecoin within Coinbase's platform. Earlier this week, Circle confirmed during its second-quarter earnings call that its commercial agreement with Coinbase renewed automatically on existing terms, extending the partnership through 2029. Under that arrangement, Coinbase receives a share of reserve income generated by USDC and supports its distribution across its services.
Circle reported that 30% of USDC in circulation was held on Coinbase's platform at the end of the second quarter, making the exchange one of the stablecoin's largest distribution channels. The stock launch gives customers holding USDC balances on Coinbase a direct path into US equities without first converting funds outside the platform.
Fractional trading is not available outside normal US market hours, and out-of-hours trading carries additional risks, as Coinbase noted in its risk disclosures. US stocks are denominated in dollars, meaning exchange-rate movements will affect purchases funded with GBP.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong separately called on senators to pass the Clarity Act on August 6 after Senator Josh Hawley announced plans to vote against the current version of the bill.
"You have to evaluate the proposal on the merits, and see if there is any evidence for such a claim," Armstrong told Hawley.
Coinbase stock closed at $149.89 on Wednesday, down 0.56%, with an intraday high of $153.99. The stock has fallen more than 60% from its all-time high of $444 reached in July 2025.
Anastasiia G
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