London, January 8, 2026, 09:18 GMT — Regular session
Barclays (BARC.L) shares were up 0.7% at 482.9 pence by 0854 GMT, after ending Wednesday at 479.55p. The stock traded in a 476.70p–483.20p range and remains below its 52-week high of 492.95p.
Barclays said on Wednesday it had taken a stake in U.S. stablecoin-settlement company Ubyx, its first investment in a stablecoin-related business. Ubyx runs a clearing system for stablecoins — cryptocurrencies designed to track mainstream currencies 1:1 — and Barclays did not disclose the size of the investment. The bank was among 10 lenders, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, that said in October they were exploring a joint stablecoin pegged to G7 currencies; stablecoins are led by Tether with $187 billion of tokens in circulation, the report said.
In a separate filing on Thursday, Barclays said it bought 2,074,728 ordinary shares on Jan. 7 for cancellation at a volume-weighted average price of 481.9911p, part of a buyback it announced in October. Share repurchases reduce the number of shares in issue and can lift earnings per share, a metric investors track closely during earnings season.
Ryan Hayward, head of digital assets and strategic investments at Barclays, said “Interoperability is essential to unlock the full potential of digital assets.” Ubyx CEO Tony McLaughlin said the firm aims to build a “common globalised acceptance network” for regulated digital money — money represented as digital tokens — with banks providing “par value redemption” through regulated channels. PR Newswire
Rate bets sit over the tape as well. Gains in gilts and German government bonds after weak economic data pushed traders to add to rate-cut expectations, a mix that can cap bank shares when investors think lenders will earn less from the gap between what they charge on loans and what they pay on deposits.
For Barclays, the Ubyx stake reads as a strategic option on payments plumbing rather than a near-term earnings lever. Investors will want to see whether it leads to client products, fee income or lower settlement costs — and how quickly.
But the stablecoin push depends on rulebooks still being written and on real-world adoption outside crypto markets. Separately, any faster-than-expected drop in interest rates or a turn in UK credit quality could bite into earnings expectations and test the stock’s recent momentum.
