Barclays has bought a stake in U.S. stablecoin-settlement company Ubyx, its first ‍such investment and part ‍of its plans to explore "new forms of digital money", the ​British bank said on Wednesday.

Ubyx, which launched in 2025, is a clearing ⁠system for stablecoins - cryptocurrencies pegged 1:1 to mainstream currencies - which aims to reconcile tokens ⁠created by ‌different issuers. Various banks and other financial institutions have announced plans involving stablecoins in the past year, as soaring crypto prices and ⁠U.S.

President Donald Trump's support for the sector revived interest in using blockchain in the mainstream financial system, for example by issuing stablecoins or creating blockchain-based tokens to represent financial assets. Still, many banks' blockchain-related ⁠projects remain in the ​early stages.

Barclays said in a statement that it and Ubyx were committed to developing "tokenised money within ‍the regulatory perimeter". Barclays was one of 10 banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, which in ​October said they had formed a group to explore the possibility of jointly issuing a stablecoin pegged to G7 currencies.

“This investment aligns with Barclays’ approach to explore opportunities based on new forms of digital money, such as stablecoins," a spokesperson for the bank said.

Barclays declined to make public the size of its investment or the valuation, but said that it was its first investment in a stablecoin-related company. The venture capital arms of ⁠U.S. crypto companies Coinbase and Galaxy Digital ‌have also previously invested in Ubyx, according to PitchBook.

The number of stablecoins has surged in recent years, led by El Salvador-based Tether with $187 billion ‌worth of ⁠tokens in circulation. Stablecoins are mostly used for moving money within crypto markets.

(Reporting by ⁠Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Kirsten Donovan)