Coinbase Establishes International Tokenisation Hub in Abu Dhabi

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ADGM licenses Coinbase to run its global tokenisation hub in Abu Dhabi, letting investors hold shares like Apple in a wallet, dividends included.

Coinbase has received a Financial Services Permission from ADGM's Financial Services Regulatory Authority, naming Abu Dhabi its international tokenisation hub.
The licence lets Coinbase arrange investment deals and provide custody for tokenised securities issued and registered in ADGM.
Apple shares will be the first product tokenised under the licence, accessible through a digital wallet with no brokerage account required.
Token holders gain economic and governance rights, including dividends and voting, though voting is reserved for verified "Vested Holders".
Every transfer remains subject to investor verification and sanctions screening, with Coinbase able to freeze or seize assets at wallet level.
Abu Dhabi joins Ondo Finance and BNY Mellon in building a tokenisation ecosystem that analysts expect to reach $500 billion across the GCC by 2030.

The FSRA's Financial Services Permission Explained

Coinbase has confirmed that Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) will serve as its international hub for tokenised securities. The move follows a Financial Services Permission (FSP) granted by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), ADGM's independent regulator. The FSP allows Coinbase to arrange investment deals and provide digital asset custody for securities issued and registered in ADGM.

Token holders will gain economic and governance rights normally reserved for direct shareholders, including dividends and voting, without needing a separate brokerage account. Coinbase has confirmed that its first product under the licence will tokenise Apple shares, with the underlying prospectus approved by the FSRA earlier in August. Every transaction remains subject to investor verification and sanctions screening before it settles.

The Scope of Coinbase's New ADGM Licence

The FSP was granted to Onchain Marketplace Ltd, the ADGM-registered entity through which Coinbase will arrange deals in investments and hold tokenised securities in custody on behalf of clients. Under ADGM's Digital Securities regime, these instruments are registered and issued within the free zone, then linked one-for-one to the underlying shares they represent. The permission builds on Coinbase's earlier ADGM footprint, which began in December 2023 with Project Diamond, a platform for institutional digital debt issuance and trading.

Brett Tejpaul, co-chief executive of Coinbase Institutional, noted that ADGM built one of the world's first regulatory frameworks for virtual assets back in 2018. That gave it an early head start on treating tokenised equities as securities, blockchain-native tokens and DeFi-composable assets all at once. Arvind Ramamurthy, ADGM's chief market development officer, described the move as a strong endorsement of Abu Dhabi's growing role in shaping the future of global finance.

Coinbase frames the initiative as a financial inclusion play, pointing to an estimated 4 billion people worldwide who currently lack access to capital markets.

Apple Shares Become the First Tokenised Product

The FSRA approved the prospectus for Coinbase's Apple CB Certificate, the tokenised version of Apple stock, on 4 August. Holders access the certificate through a digital wallet rather than a conventional brokerage account, and dividends are automatically reinvested across all holders. Voting rights, by contrast, sit with "Vested Holders" as defined in the prospectus, and redemption requires vested status plus an eligible bank or brokerage account.

Coinbase says the product targets eligible investors outside the United States, in jurisdictions its compliance team has approved. Every wallet must clear know-your-customer (KYC) verification, and every transfer stays subject to ongoing sanctions screening before it can settle. Where required for compliance, Coinbase retains the ability to freeze or seize tokenised assets directly at wallet level.

Abu Dhabi's Wider Tokenisation Push

Coinbase is not alone in building tokenised infrastructure inside ADGM. Ondo Finance won approval in March to offer tokenised US equities, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla, through a Multilateral Trading Facility, while BNY Mellon launched Bitcoin and Ether custody there in May. Analysts at Kearney and Ctrl Alt estimate that tokenised real-world assets across the GCC could approach $500 billion by 2030, with private markets, funds and bank deposits making up most of that total.

Firm	ADGM Activity	Key Detail
Coinbase	Tokenised securities and custody hub	Apple CB Certificate; wallet-based access, no brokerage account required
Ondo Finance	Tokenised US equities via a Multilateral Trading Facility	Exposure to Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla since March 2026
BNY Mellon	Bitcoin and Ether custody	Part of a group with $59.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration
KAIO	Onchain asset management	About $100 million in onchain assets, $500 million processed

Abu Dhabi's push sits alongside Dubai's own tokenisation momentum, where the Dubai Land Department has already opened a secondary market for tokenised property. Coinbase is treating the two emirates differently. Deribit, its crypto options exchange, secured a VARA broker-dealer licence in Dubai on the same day as the Abu Dhabi announcement, keeping derivatives trading there while tokenised securities anchor in ADGM. For UAE investors, the practical result is two parallel, and increasingly complementary, digital asset hubs.

Practical Implications for UAE Wealth Managers and Compliance Teams

For UAE wealth managers, the arrival of dividend- and voting-bearing tokenised shares changes the due diligence conversation with clients. Advisors fielding questions about the Apple CB Certificate need to understand vesting conditions before recommending it, since redemption and full voting rights depend on status that is not automatic at purchase. Custody also shifts: assets sit in a Coinbase-controlled wallet rather than a traditional brokerage account, which changes how firms should describe counterparty and operational risk to clients.

Compliance teams face a parallel task on onboarding, since access depends on jurisdiction eligibility, verified investor status and passing sanctions screening before a wallet can transact. Firms advising clients into this space should map these steps against the UAE's existing CMA-licensed crypto activities framework, given the overlap between digital asset compliance and securities regulation. As more tokenised products reach ADGM, advisors who understand both regimes will be better placed to guide clients through them.

What Clients are Asking their Advisors

What is a tokenised security, and how is Coinbase's Apple product different from a normal ETF?

A tokenised security is a blockchain-based token that represents direct ownership of an underlying share, rather than a basket of shares like an ETF. Coinbase's Apple CB Certificate is backed one-for-one by Apple stock held in ADGM, giving holders shareholder rights such as dividends rather than tracking a fund's performance.

How can UAE-based investors access Coinbase's tokenised Apple shares?

Eligible investors outside the United States can hold the Apple CB Certificate directly in a digital wallet, without opening a separate brokerage account. Every wallet must pass investor verification and ongoing sanctions screening before transactions can settle.

Is this the same licence Coinbase uses for crypto trading in Dubai?

No. The Abu Dhabi permission covers tokenised securities and custody through ADGM's FSRA, while Coinbase's derivatives exchange, Deribit, operates in Dubai under a separate VARA broker-dealer licence. The two approvals cover different products and different regulators.

Can Coinbase freeze or reverse a tokenised share transaction?

Yes. Coinbase can freeze or seize tokenised assets at wallet level where sanctions screening or other regulatory checks require it. Investors should treat this as a condition of holding regulated tokenised securities, not a platform malfunction.