Coinbase, a San Francisco-based digital currency exchange provider, has secured an e-money licence from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The move will enable the company to issue e-money and offer payment services in Britain.

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“The licence requires Coinbase’s e-money operations to meet the strict rules enforced by the FCA and the Payment Services Directive. For our customers, this will ultimately help us deliver a better experience through new partnerships and an easier to use product,” Coinbase UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz said in a blog post.

The licence will eventually expand to 23 other countries within the European Union (EU).

At the same time, the cryptocurrency exchange has also announced support for the Faster Payments Scheme, Britain’s real-time payment service.

The scheme will first be trialled with a small number of institutional users, prior to a broader UK rollout.

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In addition, the company also unveiled plans to grow its London team by around eight times by the end of 2018 in response to growth of the crypto market in the UK.

“As European interest in cryptocurrency grows, we remain dedicated to being the most secure exchange and see these announcements as important steps forward in our mission to creating an open financial system for the world,” Feroz said.