Barclays, Britain’s second-largest bank by market capitalization, said it invested in U.S. startup Ubyx, which develops clearing systems for tokenized forms of money such as bank deposits and regulated stablecoins.
The terms of the investment have not been disclosed, signaling growing interest from traditional banks in laying the foundation for blockchain-based payments and bringing them within the confines of existing financial regulations.
The initiative includes Switzerland’s UBS, Post Finance and Sygnum Bank conducting transactions on Ethereum as a proof of concept, and interbank messaging system Swift building infrastructure for on-chain settlements.
Ubyx is developing technology that enables tokenized funds to flow between issuers and institutions through a common settlement framework. The system is designed to support the exchange and redemption of tokenized funds at face value across wallets, banks and payment platforms.
“Interoperability is critical 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 space evolves, specialized technology will play a key role in providing the connectivity and infrastructure that allows regulated financial institutions to interact seamlessly.”
Early last year, Ubyx raised $10 million in a seed round led by Galaxy Ventures. VanEck, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Coinbase Ventures also participated in the fundraiser.