UK users can now trade US stocks straight from their Coinbase app. As Coinbase reported, the exchange switched on the feature for a first batch of eligible customers on Thursday, with plans to open it up to its full UK user base in stages. Nearly 4,000 US-listed companies are available to trade, commission-free, and traders can buy in for as little as £1 thanks to fractional share support.
How the Rollout Fits Into Coinbase’s UK Expansion
Traders can fund purchases with either GBP or USDC, and Coinbase says stablecoin balances can go straight toward buying stock without a separate conversion step, as stablecoins take on a larger role in mainstream finance. The trading window runs 24 hours a day, five days a week, well beyond the roughly six-and-a-half-hour daily session on the NYSE and Nasdaq, allowing UK users to react to U.S. market news and earnings releases outside traditional exchange hours.
The rollout became possible after the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority granted Coinbase authorization in July 2026 to offer investment services beyond crypto for the first time. That approval covers more than stock trading: it clears the way for derivatives, stablecoin payments, savings products, and borrowing, with tokenized real-world assets slated to follow.
It also opened crypto, equity, and commodity perpetual futures to institutional and advanced traders, a market Coinbase had not previously been authorized to serve in the UK.
Stock trading is the third major UK product Coinbase has added in less than a year. It launched a GBP savings account in November 2025 through a partnership with ClearBank, paying 3.75% AER at launch with FSCS deposit protection, positioning it against UK savings apps like Revolut.
In April 2026, it followed with a crypto-backed borrowing product built on the DeFi protocol Morpho, letting users borrow USDC against Bitcoin and Ethereum collateral through an on-chain smart contract rather than a balance held by Coinbase itself. For more on Coinbase’s recent moves and other developments across the crypto industry, check out our news hub.
What This Means for UK Crypto Investors
UK users now have one less reason to run separate apps for stocks and crypto. Coinbase’s push mirrors what eToro has already offered UK retail users for years: stocks, ETFs, commodities, and crypto in a single account, plus social and copy-trading features Coinbase doesn’t offer.
The difference is timing. The UK’s broader crypto regulatory framework doesn’t take full legal effect until October 25, 2027, and firms can’t even begin applying for licenses under that regime until late 2026. By securing its authorization now, Coinbase is live with regulated stock trading before that framework, and before competitors still working through their own applications, arrives.
What to Watch as the Rollout Expands
Coinbase said it expects wider access to US equities to lift UK retail participation in stock investing. The company points to survey data showing, in its telling, that UK investors trail their US counterparts in stock ownership. The company hasn’t said by how much, and it has not published the underlying survey data or methodology, so the comparison is difficult to independently verify for now.
What is measurable is the rollout itself: whether Coinbase hits its stated goal of reaching all eligible UK users, and whether trading volume on the new stock feature holds up once the initial wave of access expires.
What this means for you: If you’re a UK-based Coinbase user, you may not have stock trading yet since the rollout is happening in stages, but when it reaches your account, you’ll be able to buy fractional shares of US companies for as little as £1, commission-free, using either GBP or USDC already sitting in your wallet.
