Coinbase opens stock and ETF trading to all US users in multi-asset push

Coinbase has opened stock and exchange-traded fund trading to all US users, allowing customers to buy and sell equities alongside crypto within the same app on a 24/5 basis. The rollout includes commission-free trading, fractional shares, and instant funding with USD or USDC. 

According to a company post on Tuesday, thousands of stocks are available to trade 24 hours a day, five days a week, with approximately 6,000 securities currently supported and plans to expand that number in the coming weeks.

Coinbase said it aims to introduce stock perpetual futures for non-US users through Coinbase Bermuda Ltd., subject to regulatory approval, and said it intends to offer tokenized equities in the future.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Coinbase expanding its prediction markets offering to all 50 US states last month through a partnership with Kalshi, allowing users to trade contracts tied to real-world events across sports, politics and culture. 

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, posted the news today on X, writing “The everything exchange is growing."

Source: Brian Armstrong

Related: WisdomTree gets SEC approval for round-the-clock trading of tokenized MMF

Tokenized equities gain traction from crypto platforms to Wall Street

Tokenized equities, blockchain-based representations of traditional shares, have emerged as a major theme in crypto over the past year.

In June, more than 60 tokenized stocks became available on crypto exchanges Kraken and Bybit, as well as on Solana-based DeFi platforms. The rollout, led by Backed Finance through its xStocks product, gave users blockchain-based exposure to major companies including Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia, Meta, Coinbase and Robinhood.

In October, fintech Robinhood expanded its own tokenization program on the Arbitrum blockchain, adding 80 new stock tokens and bringing its total to 493 tokenized assets.

While crypto-native and fintech platforms have led recent rollouts, interest in tokenized equities now extends to some of the world’s largest exchanges.

In September, Nasdaq filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval to list tokenized equities, and in November, the exchange’s head of digital assets strategy, Matt Savarese, told CNBC that securing SEC approval to list tokenized versions of exchange-listed stocks is a top priority for the company.

In January, the New York Stock Exchange and its parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, announced plans to develop a platform for trading tokenized stocks and ETFs. The proposed system would support 24/7 trading and instant settlement by combining NYSE’s Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based post-trade infrastructure.

Coinbase also today announced a partnership with Yahoo Finance to enable users to move from researching an asset on Yahoo Finance to executing a trade on Coinbase with one click. Yahoo Finance will incorporate real-time information from Coinbase for asset discovery and tracking.

The US-based exchange said Coinbase One members can earn rewards on USDC (USDC) balances used for trading, and Yahoo Finance users will be offered a one-month trial of Coinbase One Basic as part of the partnership.

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