Coinbase is rolling out access to nearly 4,000 US stocks for eligible users in the UK, the company said this week. The move lets customers trade equities and crypto inside the same app, with features like fractional shares, zero commissions, and the ability to fund trades using pounds or USDC. US stock trading is available 24 hours a day, five days a week.
What UK users get
The new service covers a broad range of US-listed companies — think Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and thousands more. Fractional shares mean users can buy a slice of a high-priced stock for as little as a few pounds. There are no commission fees on trades, and funding can come directly from a UK bank account in pounds or from a USDC balance held on Coinbase. The app handles the currency conversion automatically.
Trading hours follow the US market schedule, but Coinbase says the 24/5 window gives UK users flexibility to place orders outside standard London hours. Settlement and custody are handled by Coinbase's existing infrastructure, the same system that supports its crypto trading.
Why Coinbase is pushing into stocks
For Coinbase, adding equities is a bet that users want a single hub for all their investing — not separate apps for crypto and stocks. The company has been expanding beyond digital assets for months, and the UK is a key market. Coinbase secured regulatory approvals from the Financial Conduct Authority earlier this year, and it already offers staking and crypto loans to UK customers.
The timing makes sense. UK retail investors have shown strong appetite for US stocks, but many face barriers like high currency conversion fees or minimum share purchases. Coinbase's offer of fractional shares and zero commissions directly addresses those pain points. And by letting users fund trades with USDC — a dollar-pegged stablecoin — the exchange creates a natural bridge between its crypto and stock products.
What this means for the UK market
The launch puts Coinbase in more direct competition with established UK brokerages like Hargreaves Lansdown and newer fintech players like Trading 212 and eToro. Those platforms already offer US stocks and fractional shares, but none combine them with a full crypto exchange in the same app. Coinbase's edge is its existing user base of crypto holders who may now have a reason to trade stocks without leaving the platform.
Eligibility is limited for now. Coinbase says the service is available to UK users who have completed identity verification and meet certain criteria. The company hasn't disclosed how many users qualify, but it expects to expand access over time.
The rollout is live as of this week. Coinbase hasn't announced plans to bring the stock-trading feature to other countries, but the UK launch is a clear test case. If adoption is strong, similar expansions into Europe or Asia could follow. For now, UK users can open the app and start browsing US stocks alongside their Bitcoin and Ether balances.
