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The UK is now Coinbase’s largest market outside the US as the exchange hints at further expansion to the east.
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Coinbase won approval from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a registered virtual asset service provider (VASP).
The cryptocurrency exchange said in a Feb. 3 news release shared with Cointelegraph that the approval cemented its status as the country’s largest registered crypto exchange.
The FCA’s greenlight grants the Nasdaq-listed exchange the ability to serve both retail and institutional customers and offer crypto-to-fiat services in one of its most important international markets. The UK is now Coinbase’s largest market outside the US, where it is headquartered.
Coinbase joins FCA’s crypto asset firms list as CB Payments Ltd. Source: FCA
This marks the first crypto asset firm added to the FCA’s register in 2025 and the first since trading firm GSR Markets got the nod in late December 2024.
Coinbase secured its regulatory approval in the UK less than a year after the FCA completed its investigation into Coinbase Payments for what the company described as “unintentional breaches” of a 2020 voluntary agreement. The violations involved onboarding certain high-risk customers, leading to a £3.5 million fine (about $4.3 million).
The world’s sixth-largest economy by gross domestic product, the UK has set out to become a global crypto hub, with the FCA planning a full regulatory framework by 2026.
Related: UK cryptocurrency ownership rises to 12% as FCA prepares new regulations
A November 2024 FCA survey found that crypto adoption in the UK is rising, with 12% of adults holding digital assets, up 2% from the previous year. Average holdings per investor also jumped from 1,595 British pounds ($1,964) to 1,842 ($2268).
Meanwhile, Coinbase has been expanding across Europe, adding the UK to a licensing portfolio that already includes Ireland and Germany. Its Irish entity is registered as a crypto service provider in the Netherlands and Italy.
Still, its ambitions extend further east toward Southeast Asia. At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong was seen in discussions with Ralph Recto, the Filipino finance secretary. The Philippines Department of Finance said that Coinbase requested the meeting to discuss potential entry into the Southeast Asian nation where Coinbase has been ramping up engagement.
The company has backed developer initiatives in the Philippines and Thailand to build local stablecoins. Meanwhile, a Coinbase-commissioned report studied citizens’ perceptions in five nations, including the Philippines, on how crypto could improve their financial systems.
Coinbase already operates in Singapore, having secured regulatory approval in October 2023.
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
