Coinbase Wins Full Crypto Services Approval in UK, Purchases On-Chain Ads Platform Spindl

Coinbase has received regulatory approval to expand its digital asset services in the UK while acquiring onchain advertising platform, Spindl.

The US-based crypto exchange secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), making Coinbase the largest registered digital assets player in the UK.

“This is a critical registration to cement our strong position in the UK and unlock our ambitious expansion plans,” a Coinbase stated.

"Our mission is to onboard the next 1 billion people into crypto while prioritising security for customer assets and maintaining the highest standards of compliance. Coinbase’s core thesis is that greater adoption and use of cryptocurrencies will increase economic freedom, and achieving our VASP in the UK furthers this belief."

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Coinbase has been steadily growing its European presence over the years, having established an office in Dublin in 2018 and launched services in Germany in 2020.

The UK is preparing to introduce a comprehensive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and staking services. This new framework, set for 2025, aims to unify existing fragmented measures and provide a clear pathway for the UK to establish itself as a global hub for digital assets.

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Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq, outlined the new administration’s vision during the City & Financial Global Tokenisation Summit in London in November.

Separately, Coinbase's acquisition of Spindl comes as part of a strategic push to enhance discovery and engagement for projects on its Ethereum layer-2 network, Base.

“Coinbase has acquired Spindl, an onchain ads and attribution platform (re)building the ad tech stack onchain, to improve the onchain discovery problem for onchain builders,” the company said.

Spindl was founded by Antonio Garcia-Martinez, who served as an early member of the Facebook ads team that shipped Facebook’s first version of keyword targeting, audience targeting, and Facebook’s programmatic ad exchange FBX. The platform will operate under Base.

Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base, described the acquisition as an effort to replicate Facebook’s success in digital advertising but within the onchain ecosystem. “Now they’re coming to do it again onchain, and they’ve built it from the ground up in smart contracts all onchain, and they’re helping builders right now go viral,” Pollak said.

Coinbase’s head of business development, Shan Aggarwal, highlighted Spindl’s potential to empower developers and increase engagement. “Spindl’s built the first truly robust onchain advertising protocol that helps builders find their audience and users find more compelling things to do onchain. Win-win,” he tweeted.