Barclays & Stablecoins: What’s REALLY Going On? 🤯

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Oh, Barclays. Finally dipping a toe into the stablecoin pool? Bless their little corporate hearts. Apparently, they’ve decided to throw some money at Ubyx, a firm that deals with, and I quote, “stablecoin-settlement.” Riveting stuff, honestly. 🎉

  • So, they’ve bought a piece of Ubyx. A whole ‘direct investment’, can you believe it? Sounds…committed.
  • Ubyx basically tries to get the cool, new digital money to play nicely with the old, boring banking system. Because, synergy. 🙄

They’re being, predictably, cagey about the actual amount of money. Like it’s some state secret. “Exploring new forms of digital money,” they say. Right. As if they weren’t aware that digital money existed. Groundbreaking stuff. 🙄

Ubyx, for the uninitiated, fancies itself a global clearinghouse for these stablecoins. Connecting token people (cool) with banks (less cool, but necessary) and fintechs (somewhere in the middle). It’s all very…connector-y.

Their big selling point is “universal redemption.” Apparently, you can dump your various wibbly-wobbly stablecoins straight into your boring old bank account. Progress! 🥳

They’ve already snagged $10 million from some other very important people – Galaxy Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Founders Fund, Paxos etc.. It’s a who’s who of ‘let’s play with blockchain’ money.

And now Barclays are joining the party. They’re going to “develop tokenised money within the regulatory perimeter.” You know, because regulations are fun. 😒

Barclays focused on stablecoins

Barclays, being the cautiously optimistic sorts they are, are tiptoeing around the crypto space like it might bite. Strict regulations, people. Must. Follow. Rules. Think of the shareholders! 😬

Actually, they’ve been dabbling since 2018, filing patents and cozying up to Coinbase. It’s a slow burn, this whole blockchain thing. Like a really, really slow burn.🔥

They also hooked up with Fnality, a firm building a network of…something to do with finance. Honestly, it gets complicated. 😴

And they were part of a group trying to make tokenized deposits work in the U.K. Sounds…efficient? I’m not sure. I need a lie down. 😩

Last year, they even started chatting with Goldman Sachs and UBS about launching a stablecoin tied to G7 currencies. A global stablecoin! The ambition! 🤩

But, and this is a big but, they’ve blocked crypto purchases with their credit cards. Just to be safe. Can’t have people losing their shirts, can we? Although, some might argue it’s a missed opportunity to profit. That’s just me though.🤫

Basically, they’re not fans of the wild west of actual crypto. They prefer the slightly less chaotic world of stablecoins. Especially now that everyone seems to think blockchain is suddenly a good idea again. Thanks, Donald Trump! 👍

Everyone and their dog is jumping on the stablecoin bandwagon. Apparently, it’s the future of…something. Honestly, it’s a bit much. I need a drink.🍸

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2026-01-07 11:02