The UK government suffered a defeat in the House of Lords on Wednesday as peers backed an amendment requiring the Treasury to draw up a national strategy for regulating digital assets.
The upper chamber approved the measure by 194 votes to 138, with Conservative and Liberal Democrat peers combining against a near-solid bloc of Labour votes. Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a Conservative former Treasury minister, moved the amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
The new clause, titled “Digital assets strategy,” would require the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a strategy for regulating and developing digital assets and related digital financial market infrastructure in the UK.
JUST IN: U.K. House of Lords passes amendment requiring the government to develop a national cryptocurrency strategy pic.twitter.com/77tsy5cRaO
The regulation of digital assets includes “cryptoassets, qualifying stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies, tokenised securities and other digital and tokenised financial assets,” according to the draft.
The UK is in the process of drafting a sweeping new crypto bill. The country’s Financial Conduct Authority finalised its regulatory framework for cryptoassets in June, with the regime due to take effect on 25 October 2027. The authorisation gateway for firms opened on 30 September and runs to 28 February 2027.
Britain is trailing behind Brussels and Washington with digital asset regulation. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation has applied to service providers since 30 December 2024.
And the U.S. under President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July 2025, establishing a federal framework for dollar-backed tokens. Broader market-structure legislation remains unfinished: the Clarity Act cleared the House in July 2025 by 294-134 but has been stuck in the Senate over DeFi, stablecoin yield and ethics provisions, with a procedural vote set for next week.
British financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown is letting retail investors buy bitcoin — nearly one year after it said the cryptocurrency was “not an asset class.”
The Bristol, UK-based investment firm’s website said it was offering bitcoin and other crypto exchange-traded notes to investors. ETNs are investment funds which trade on stock exchanges and track the prices of digital assets.
It comes after the firm, which manages nearly £173 billion (over $233 billion) in assets, last year warned customers about buying bitcoin.
NEW: U.K.'s largest investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown is now offering Bitcoin products to 2 million clients! pic.twitter.com/GgdeHK8vyM
“While longer-term returns of Bitcoin have been positive, Bitcoin has experienced several periods of extreme losses and is a highly volatile investment — much riskier than stocks or bonds,” the firm said at the time.
“The HL Investment view is that Bitcoin is not an asset class, and we do not think cryptocurrency has characteristics that mean it should be included in portfolios for growth or income and shouldn’t be relied upon to help clients meet their financial goals.”
Now, a number of ETNs tracking the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are available. The firm warns users that “crypto ETNs are considered high-risk and may be volatile.”
U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds for investors after a decade of saying no to the products.
The funds had the most successful debut in the history of ETFs as investors previously unable to buy exposure to the asset class rushed in to buy the products.
Run by top asset managers and banks like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Morgan Stanley, the investment vehicles now collectively manage over $100 billion in assets.
Coinbase has launched futures, options, and perpetuals for professional clients in the United Kingdom, expanding its derivatives offering through its MiFID authorization.
The rollout is not for UK retail users. Eligibility is limited to users classified as Professional Clients, which means they must meet criteria tied to trading activity, portfolio size, or relevant professional experience.
That is the most important detail.
Crypto derivatives can offer hedging, leverage, and more sophisticated trading strategies, but regulators draw a clear line between professional and retail access. Coinbase’s UK expansion gives qualifying clients more tools, while keeping retail users outside the product set.
For more details, visit the official Coinbase platform.
TL;DR
Coinbase has expanded derivatives access for UK Professional Clients.
Products include futures, options, and perpetuals.
The offering is not available to ordinary UK retail users.
Why UK Derivatives Access Matters
The UK has a complicated relationship with crypto derivatives.
Retail access has been heavily restricted, but professional and institutional markets continue to develop through regulated structures. Coinbase’s move fits into that gap: more advanced products for clients who meet professional standards.
For qualifying users, derivatives can be useful.
They allow traders to hedge spot exposure, manage risk, express views without holding the underlying asset, or structure more complex strategies around volatility and timing.
For Coinbase, the offering helps deepen its institutional and professional trading business in a major financial market.
Professional Client Status Is The Gate
The eligibility criteria matter because “professional” is not just marketing language.
Elective professional status typically requires users to meet certain thresholds. These can include trading frequency, portfolio size above €500,000, or relevant professional experience in financial markets.
That means a casual UK crypto user should not expect access.
This distinction protects the accuracy of the story and the regulatory framing. Coinbase is not reopening crypto derivatives to everyone in the UK. It is expanding access within a defined professional-client framework.
That may still be commercially meaningful, but it is not a retail mass-market launch.
Derivatives Deepen Market Structure
Spot trading is only one part of a mature market.
Derivatives are where many professional traders manage exposure. Futures and options can support hedging, basis trades, volatility strategies, and risk transfer. Perpetuals, while crypto-native, are also central to liquidity and price discovery in digital assets.
Offering these products to UK professionals gives Coinbase a more complete trading stack.
It also helps the exchange compete with other venues serving institutional and sophisticated crypto clients.
The more regulated venues offer derivatives, the more professional flow may move away from purely offshore platforms.
Why This Matters For Ethereum And Major Assets
The announcement may be especially relevant for larger assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, because professional derivatives demand usually starts with the most liquid markets.
Institutions are more likely to trade products where spreads are tight, liquidity is deep, and risk models are mature. That tends to favor BTC and ETH first, before moving further into altcoins.
Over time, derivatives access can help build more efficient markets around major crypto assets.
But efficiency cuts both ways. Leverage can support liquidity, but it can also amplify volatility when positioning gets crowded.
A Regulated UK Crypto Market Is Taking Shape
Coinbase’s expansion is another sign that the UK crypto market is becoming more segmented.
Retail users face one set of rules. Professional clients face another. Regulated firms are building inside those boundaries rather than waiting for a single open market.
That may frustrate some users, but it is likely how crypto integrates into traditional finance.
The immediate takeaway is clear: Coinbase is giving UK professional clients access to a broader derivatives suite, but ordinary retail investors are not included.
Crypto derivatives are expanding in the UK, but only through the professional lane.
This article is based on Coinbase’s official UK derivatives announcement.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
This report is based on information released by Coinbase. at Coinbase
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