# Ketju research: Coinbase Tokenized Stock (Coinbase Onchain SPV, Base)

- URL: https://riadefi.com/rejections/coinbase-tokenized-stock/
- Research assessment: adverse
- Client selection: not considered
- Exposure: tokenized RWA
- Reviewed: 2026-09-23
- Next review: 2026-12-23

## Research summary

Coinbase’s tokenized stocks are certificates, not shares, and Coinbase will not sell them to Americans. The issuer is Coinbase Onchain SPV Ltd, a company formed in Abu Dhabi’s financial free zone on 17 June 2026 and owned, through one holding company, by Coinbase Global. The ADGM regulator approved one prospectus per stock: NVIDIA, Meta, Apple and Alphabet on 4 August 2026, and six more, from Amazon to SpaceX, on 3 September. Each token is a B20 token on Base, Coinbase’s own chain.

The legal form is the custodial one. Alpaca Securities, a US broker-dealer, holds the shares in the SPV’s name, and the SPV holds them on trust; each token is "a pro rata beneficial interest" in that pool. The catch is who counts as a holder. The record of title is a Legal Register kept by another Coinbase company, Onchain Marketplace Ltd, and a person who buys the token on chain is not on it. They are an "Unvested Holder": the SPV is the registered owner and holds for them as bare trustee, and they may not redeem or instruct a vote until they pass Coinbase’s checks.

For a US advisor’s client the answer is no. The prospectus says the certificates "MAY NOT BE ACQUIRED, HELD, OFFERED, SOLD" in the United States or to a US person. On chain, one address with no code holds the admin role on the contracts we read, and B20 gives that role the power to block any address and burn its balance.

## Observable review triggers

- Coinbase opens the certificates to US persons, or files a US-registered offering of them
- The admin key grants the burn-blocked or pause role, or blocks a holder
- Coinbase changes the vesting conditions or cancels unvested positions
- Custody moves from Alpaca, or the trust is challenged in an insolvency

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Published by Ketju Research (https://ketjuresearch.com). Educational analysis only; not legal, tax, compliance, or investment advice.
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