Coinbase (COIN) picks Abu Dhabi for global RWA tokenization push

“No major financial center has yet built a framework that treats tokenized equities simultaneously as securities, blockchain-native tokens, and DeFi-composable assets,” said Brett Tejpaul, co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, the exchange’s arm focused at institutional digital asset investors.

Coinbase have already established a footprint in United Arab Emirates before Tuesday’s regulatory approval. In 2023, the firm’s asset management arm initiated Project Diamond to let institutional investors issue and trade digital debt instruments using Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based blockchain network. Last, month, Mubadala Capital, the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, tokenized one of its private-market investment strategies through UAE-based infrastructure provider KAIO on blockchain including Base, with Coinbase itself taking exposure to the fund.

The Abu Dhabi operation will sit alongside Coinbase’s derivatives business in Dubai, the company said, giving it two bases in the UAE for expanding businesses outside the U.S.