UK's Barclays invests in Ubyx…"Expanding territory with stablecoins"

Barclays, the UK investment bank (IB), is expanding its stablecoin business.

Barclays said on the 7th (local time) that it had made a strategic investment in Ubyx, a US stablecoin payments firm. This is the first time Barclays has invested in a company related to stablecoins. The specific investment amount was not disclosed.

Barclays is expected to accelerate its digital assets business following this investment. A Barclays spokesperson said, "This investment is part of a strategy to seek investment opportunities in new forms of digital currencies such as stablecoins."

Last year, Barclays also formed a consortium with 10 banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, to jointly develop a stablecoin. Reuters reported, "With growing interest in applying blockchain technology to mainstream financial systems, several banks and financial institutions are unveiling stablecoin-related business plans," adding, "but many banks' blockchain projects remain in the early stages."

Ryan Hayward, Barclays' head of digital assets and strategic investments, said, "Ubyx's professional technology will play a pivotal role in providing regulated financial institutions with connectivity and infrastructure to digital assets," adding, "We are pleased to lead industry innovation together with Ubyx."