Barclays buys stake in Ubyx as it explores regulated 'tokenized money': Reuters

Barclays has acquired a stake in Ubyx, a U.S.-based stablecoin settlement infrastructure startup, marking what could be the British bank's first direct capital deployment into a company focused on stablecoin technology, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Barclays said that the move aligns with the bank's strategy to explore new forms of digital money, and that it tends to work with Ubyx to develop "tokenized money within the regulatory perimeter," according to the report.

The bank, however, did not disclose the size or valuation of the deal.

Ubyx, which launched in 2025, announced in July that it raised $10 million in a seed round led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, and VanEck. It operates a clearing system designed to reconcile transactions across different stablecoin issuers.

Brian Quintenz — the former Commodity Futures Trading Commission commissioner whose nomination to lead the agency was withdrawn last fall — joined Ubyx as an adviser last month.

The Block has reached out to Barclays and Ubyx for further comment.

Shift in bank-led digital assets

The Ubyx investment follows a series of bank-led initiatives aimed at building shared rails for tokenized money. In October, Barclays joined a consortium with nine other major institutions, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, to explore issuing a regulated stablecoin pegged to a basket of G7 currencies.

This followed a separate European initiative announced on Sept. 25 last year. A group of nine banks including ING, UniCredit, KBC, Danske Bank, DekaBank, SEB, CaixaBank, Banca Sella and Raiffeisen Bank International said they would form a new company to launch a MiCAR-compliant, euro-denominated stablecoin, Reuters reported. The Amsterdam-based venture is expected to issue the token in the second half of 2026.

The initiatives come as stablecoins expand in scale and usage. Total stablecoin supply has surpassed $290 billion, according to data from The Block's dashboard, with Tether's USDT representing roughly $187 billion — more than 64% of the market. Stablecoins are primarily used for settlement and liquidity within crypto markets, with growing use in cross-border payments.

Only a small number of banks have issued stablecoins to date. Societe Generale's crypto unit SG-FORGE launched a euro-backed stablecoin in 2023, with about 67.8 million euros in circulation, and a U.S. dollar token last year with roughly $26.9 million outstanding, according to the firm's website. U.S. lenders including Bank of America and Citigroup have said they are examining stablecoin issuance, but have not launched tokens.

Barclays' approach has focused on infrastructure and consortium participation rather than direct issuance. The bank had previously moved to restrict customer exposure, blocking cryptocurrency purchases via credit cards in June over concerns about volatility and fraud. Other UK lenders, including Lloyds Bank and Chase UK, have enacted similar restrictions in recent years.