Barclays shares were set for focus ahead of the London open on Wednesday after the bank said it had bought a stake in U.S. stablecoin-settlement firm Ubyx, its first investment in a stablecoin-related company. Barclays declined to disclose the size of the investment; Ubyx runs a clearing system for stablecoins, digital tokens designed to track mainstream currencies, and Barclays was one of 10 banks including Goldman Sachs and UBS that said in October it was exploring a stablecoin pegged to G7 currencies. The stock ended Tuesday up 0.36% at 488.40 pence, close to a 492.95 pence 52-week high, and is up about 79% over the past year, Hargreaves Lansdown data showed. Reuters+1
