Coinbase rolled out 24/5 US stock trading for eligible UK users on Thursday, marking a major milestone in its « Everything Exchange » strategy. The new service, deployed progressively, lets British customers buy, sell and manage roughly 4,000 US equities directly inside the Coinbase app, alongside crypto and fiat balances. Trading is commission-free, supports fractional shares and starts from £1, funded in pounds sterling or in USDC.
🔑 Key takeaways
- Coinbase offers access to roughly 4,000 US stocks in the UK, available 24/5.
- The service is commission-free, supports fractional shares and starts from £1.
- Funding can be done in GBP or directly in USDC, Coinbase’s flagship stablecoin.
- The rollout relies on a broader FCA licence secured in July 2026, beyond crypto.
- The move is part of the Everything Exchange strategy bundling stocks, derivatives, savings and crypto.
A 24/5 service that outpaces Wall Street hours
The UK launch gives customers access to nearly 4,000 US tickers inside an app already used to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum and stablecoins. Orders are routed through Apex Fintech Solutions, Coinbase’s clearing, custody and execution partner. This architecture lets Coinbase tap into regulated brokerage infrastructure without rebuilding the entire back-office.
The 24/5 schedule stretches well beyond the NYSE and Nasdaq’s roughly 6.5-hour trading day. In practice, orders are batched and executed during regular market hours, but the interface accepts them around the clock. Settlement runs on crypto rails: purchases can be funded in USDC, and spot positions can be used as cross-margin for perpetual futures opened on the same platform.
UK regulatory tailwind: the FCA green light
Without the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval secured in July 2026, the UK stock rollout would not have been possible. For the first time, Coinbase obtained the right to offer investment services beyond crypto: equities, derivatives, stablecoin payments, savings and lending. The licence also unlocks access to perpetual futures on crypto, stocks and commodities for institutional and advanced traders.
The UK timeline is friendlier than the broader UK crypto framework, which only fully enters into force on 25 October 2027, with a licensing application window expected at the end of 2026. By locking in its investment-services authorisation now, Coinbase is leapfrogging competitors still waiting on regulator decisions.
« This move responds to the widening gap between how traditional and digital assets are managed, and we want to close it on a single platform. »
Coinbase, official communication
Everything Exchange: stocks, derivatives, savings and lending
Stock trading is the most visible piece of a broader strategy branded « Everything Exchange ». The goal is to combine crypto, stocks, derivatives, savings and lending on a single account, with tokenised real-world assets slated for a later stage. Coinbase has already laid several building blocks in the UK over recent months.
In November 2025, the platform launched a GBP savings account through a partnership with ClearBank, initially offering a 3.75% annual rate with Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protection, positioning itself as a direct challenger to Revolut’s savings product. In April 2026, Coinbase added a crypto-backed lending product built on the DeFi protocol Morpho, allowing UK users to borrow USDC against their Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings via an on-chain smart contract rather than through Coinbase’s balance sheet.
Head-on with Robinhood and eToro
With this offering, Coinbase now competes head-on with retail brokers like Robinhood, which has expanded its crypto lineup in recent years, and eToro, which has offered stocks, ETFs, commodities and crypto on a single account for several years. The difference: eToro leans on social trading and copy-trading, while Coinbase focuses on securing regulatory approvals before launching products.
| Platform | Asset classes | Key differentiator |
|---|---|---|
| Coinbase (UK) | Crypto, US stocks, derivatives, savings, lending | Licence-first approach, native USDC |
| Robinhood | Stocks, ETFs, options, crypto | Mobile-first UX, expanding crypto |
| eToro | Stocks, ETFs, commodities, crypto | Social trading and copy-trading |
On the derivatives side, Coinbase also launched stock perpetual futures, available to eligible non-US traders. The offering covers individual « Magnificent Seven » stocks as well as perpetual contracts on ETFs such as SPY and QQQ, with leverage of up to 10x on single names and 20x on perpetual ETFs. Settlement is in USDC, with cross-margin across all perpetual contracts and spot positions.
What it means for COIN and revenue diversification
Coinbase Global (COIN) shares have historically moved in lockstep with Bitcoin, reflecting the company’s heavy reliance on crypto trading fees. A broader product mix spanning stocks and other instruments could help loosen that correlation and reposition the firm as a diversified technology platform rather than a pure-play crypto exchange.
COIN and Robinhood (HOOD) shares have both dropped around -35% year-to-date amid weak digital asset markets. Coinbase also reported a $667 million net loss in the fourth quarter, with transaction revenue down sequentially and subscription and services revenue also slipping. The UK expansion is therefore also a strategic bet to reduce this cyclical exposure to the crypto market.
Conclusion: a bet on regulatory convergence
The launch of US stock trading in the UK marks a pivotal step in Coinbase’s Everything Exchange strategy. By bundling crypto, stocks, savings, lending and derivatives on a single platform, the firm is testing a simple hypothesis: the line between traditional finance and on-chain finance is blurring, and UK regulators are following suit. If the experiment pays off, it could become a template for other jurisdictions. Near term, the revenue impact will remain marginal; over the medium term, product-mix diversification and reduced correlation with Bitcoin will be the real indicators to watch.
Sources
This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.
