Coinbase Wins Abu Dhabi Approval for Global Tokenization Hub

Real-world asset tokenization brings claims on conventional instruments such as equities onto blockchains, potentially enabling faster settlement and integration with decentralized finance. Coinbase’s authorization from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, the regulator of Abu Dhabi Global Market, is significant because it extends the crypto exchange’s ambitions beyond digital-asset trading into regulated onchain securities while strengthening its foothold in the Middle East.

Coinbase has announced an “International Tokenization Center” that will issue digital securities backed by underlying stocks and position them as onchain assets designed to integrate with DeFi protocols. The report did not specify the date the authorization was granted or when the center would begin operations. It also disclosed no launch products, issuance target or monetary value, leaving the initial scale, regulatory conditions and rollout timetable unclear.