Barclays, a major British multinational universal bank headquartered in London, recently announced a strategic investment in Ubyx Inc., a US-based clearing system for digital money, including tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins.
Ubyx is a young firm that only launched last year, in 2025, introducing a stablecoin clearing system that reconciles tokens created by different issuers.
The investment comes at a time of growing interest in new forms of digital money based on tokens transacted on public blockchain infrastructures, as Barclays’ announcement pointed out. It added that regulatory clarity is moving forward in multiple jurisdictions, and evidence of growing adoption outside of crypto use cases is rapidly emerging.
In the UK itself, the Bank of England published a consultation paper back in November, setting out its proposed regulatory regime for sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins.
Interoperability Is Essential To Unlock The Power of Crypto, Says Barclays Official
Commenting on the investment, Barclays’ Head of Digital Assets and Strategic Investments, Ryan Hayward, said that interoperability is essential to unlock the full potential of digital assets. Hayward explained that the landscape of tokens, blockchains, and wallets is continuing to evolve, and as it does, specialist technology will play a pivotal role in delivering connectivity and infrastructure to enable regulated financial institutions to interact seamlessly.
“We are pleased to be joining Ubyx on their journey as we drive forward our shared ambition to accelerate and shape innovation across our industry,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ubyx’s CEO, Tony McLaughlin, also commented on the move, saying that his company’s mission is to build a common globalized acceptance network for regulated digital money. That includes tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins.
“Bank participation is vital to provide par value redemption through regulated channels. We are entering a world in which every regulated firm offers digital wallets in addition to traditional bank accounts.” he said, explaining why Barclays’ support is crucial for the success of Ubyx’s mission.
It is also worth noting that Ubyx also attracted support from companies like Coinbase and Galaxy Digital, whose venture capital arms also made an investment into the firm in the past. Now, Barclays has joined them by supporting the firm financially.
Barclays has also joined a group of 10 banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, which said that they had formed a new group to explore the possibility of issuing a stablecoin pegged to G7 currencies together.
