Coinbase adds FCA‑backed tGBP to app and exchange, doubling down on local‑currency rails
Coinbase has added full support for tGBP — a pound‑pegged stablecoin issued by UK firm BCP Technologies (aka BCP Markets) — letting users buy, sell, exchange, send and receive GBP‑stable tokens across both the Coinbase App and Coinbase Exchange starting this year.
What tGBP is and who’s behind it
- tGBP is issued by BCP Technologies, a UK‑registered cryptoasset firm supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company participated in the FCA’s sandbox to test the token in a live environment.
- According to issuer disclosures and coverage of the launch, tGBP is backed 1:1 by reserves held in segregated accounts at a UK‑regulated financial institution.
- BCP CEO Benoit Marzouk says the token is designed to let clients “transfer pounds through blockchain technology without intermediaries and price volatility.” The firm positions tGBP for both retail and institutional users as a sterling‑based analogue to dollar stablecoins.
Why Coinbase is expanding beyond USD
Coinbase frames the move as part of a broader strategy to build local‑currency rails rather than routing everything through USD. In a blog post titled “GBP stablecoins unlocking the future of finance,” the exchange argued that domestic stablecoins can streamline cross‑border payments, cut FX frictions and enable use cases such as real‑world‑asset tokenization and programmable payouts denominated directly in local currency.
Regulatory context and broader implications
The UK is actively building a regulatory framework around stablecoins: the FCA has been running an expanded sandbox and testing models that position GBP tokens as potential settlement instruments for both crypto‑native and traditional finance flows. By integrating an FCA‑registered issuer that has already undergone regulator testing, Coinbase is effectively betting that tGBP — or closely similar sterling stablecoins — will play a core role in the UK’s on‑chain payments and trading infrastructure.
Bottom line
The listing gives Coinbase customers a regulated GBP option on‑platform and signals a strategic push to make local‑currency stablecoins a mainstream part of cross‑border and domestic crypto finance.
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