Barclays, the UK’s second-largest bank by market capitalisation, said it had invested in Ubyx, a US startup developing clearing systems for tokenized forms of money such as bank deposits and regulated stablecoins.
The investment, terms of which were not disclosed, demonstrates growing interest from traditional banks in laying the foundation for blockchain-based payments that remain within the bounds of existing financial regulations.
This initiative includes Switzerland’s UBS, PostFinance and Sygnum Bank transacting on Ethereum as a proof of concept, as well as interbank messaging system Swift which is building infrastructure for on-chain settlement.
Ubyx is developing technology to enable tokenized money to flow between issuers and institutions via a common settlement framework. The system is designed to support the exchange and redemption of tokenized funds at face value between wallets, banks and payment platforms.
“Interoperability is essential to unlocking the full potential of digital assets,” Ryan Hayward, head of digital assets and strategic investments at Barclays, said in a statement. “As the token, blockchain and wallet landscape evolves, specialized technology will play a central role in providing connectivity and infrastructure for regulated financial institutions to interact seamlessly.”
Early last year, Ubyx raised $10 million in a funding round led by Galaxy Ventures. VanEck, Peter Thiel Founders Fund and Coinbase Ventures also participated in the fundraising.
