Coinbase Lets UK Users Trade US Stocks While Wall Street Sleeps

Coinbase on Thursday began rolling out US stock trading to eligible UK users, giving them access to buy, sell and manage close to 4,000 US equities from within the same app they already use for crypto and fiat holdings. The exchange said the rollout would expand progressively to all UK customers.

The offering carries no commission and supports fractional shares, with a minimum entry of £1. Users can fund trades in GBP or USDC, and Coinbase said stablecoin balances can be used directly for stock purchases. Trading is available 24 hours a day, five days a week, going beyond regular NYSE and Nasdaq hours. The company described the move as another step toward its goal of building an "Everything Exchange" that combines crypto, stocks, derivatives, savings and borrowing on a single platform.

Regulatory groundwork

The stock trading launch follows the UK Financial Conduct Authority's July 2026 authorization, which for the first time allowed Coinbase to offer investment services beyond crypto. That approval cleared the way for equities, derivatives, stablecoin payments, savings and borrowing on one platform, with tokenized real-world assets planned for later. It also opened access to crypto, equity and commodity perpetual futures for institutional and advanced traders.

Stocks are the latest addition to Coinbase's expanding UK product range. In November 2025, the exchange introduced a GBP savings account through a partnership with ClearBank, initially paying 3.75% AER with FSCS protection. In April 2026, it launched a crypto-backed borrowing product built on the DeFi lending protocol Morpho, allowing UK users to borrow USDC against Bitcoin and Ethereum holdings via an on-chain smart contract rather than through Coinbase's balance sheet.

Coinbase is not the only multi-asset platform targeting UK retail users. eToro has offered stocks, ETFs, commodities and crypto through a single account for years, along with social and copy-trading features that Coinbase does not provide. Coinbase has instead leaned on regulatory approvals ahead of product launches, a strategy it has also used in other markets.

The UK's broader crypto regulatory framework is not due to take full legal effect until 25 October 2027, with firms able to begin applying for licenses under that regime in late 2026. By securing investment services authorization now, Coinbase can offer regulated stock trading before that framework and before competitors still working through their applications. Coinbase said it expects expanded access to US equities to lift UK retail participation in stock investing, citing survey data it says shows UK retail investors trailing US counterparts in stock ownership; the underlying data has not been published.