Barclays has invested in U.S.-based stablecoin settlement project Ubyx, its first direct financial involvement with a company centered on stablecoin technology. The move points to a clear strategy: build exposure to regulated tokenized money through infrastructure, not issuance.
Barclays chooses settlement rails over issuance
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to Reuters-cited sources in the original report, Barclays plans to work with Ubyx on tokenized money models that fit within regulatory boundaries. The bank is focusing on the infrastructure and settlement layers of stablecoins, aiming for digital currency systems that work with existing financial rails and can be audited.
Ubyx was founded in 2025 and runs a clearing system that reconciles transactions across different stablecoin issuers. In July last year, the company raised a $10 million seed round led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, and VanEck. Last month, former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Brian Quintenz joined the project as an adviser.
Banks are moving toward regulated tokenized money
The timing stands out. Stablecoins are expanding quickly, and policy debate around them is becoming more active. Barclays still appears cautious on customer-facing crypto activity, but it is taking a more active position in the infrastructure segment, using investment and partnership models instead of launching a token directly.
In October, Barclays joined a consortium with nine other major institutions, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, to explore a regulated stablecoin linked to G7 currencies. In Europe, another group including ING and UniCredit is working on a MiCAR-compliant euro stablecoin targeted for the second half of 2026.
Stablecoin scale is drawing traditional finance in
Market size helps explain the interest. Total stablecoin supply has climbed above $290 billion. Tether’s USDT accounts for more than 64% of that market, at roughly $187 billion. Stablecoins are still used mainly for settlement and liquidity inside crypto markets, though their role in cross-border payments is also growing.
Only a small number of banks have issued stablecoins so far. Societe Generale’s crypto unit SG-FORGE already has euro- and dollar-linked coins in circulation, while Bank of America and Citigroup are still studying the field. Barclays is taking a middle path: it restricts crypto purchases through credit cards while expanding its digital currency position through infrastructure and partnerships.