Today in crypto: United Kingdom banking giant Barclays has invested in Ubyx, a US stablecoin clearing platform, marking a major move into regulated digital money and tokenized financial services, Strategy stock rises 6.6% in after-hours trading following the MSCI’s decision to keep crypto treasuries in indexes, and investment bank TD Cowen reportedly warned that a key crypto market structure bill could be delayed until 2027.
Barclays makes first stablecoin investment with stake in Ubyx
Barclays, one of the world’s biggest banks and a systemically important global financial institution, has made its first investment in a stablecoin-related company.
The United Kingdom-based bank said Wednesday it had invested in Ubyx, a US stablecoin clearing platform that aims to connect regulated issuers with banks and fintech companies. Barclays did not disclose the size of the investment.
“As the landscape of tokens, blockchains and wallets evolves, specialist technology will play a pivotal role in delivering connectivity and infrastructure to enable regulated financial institutions to interact seamlessly,” said Ryan Hayward, head of digital assets and strategic investments at Barclays.
The investment follows Ubyx’s $10 million seed funding round in June 2025, backed by investors including venture capital arms of Michael Novogratz-founded Galaxy and the US crypto exchange Coinbase.
Ubyx was founded in March 2025 by payments veteran Tony McLaughlin, who spent more than 20 years at Citi, managing payments and cash flows.
Describing himself on LinkedIn as a “tokenized money maximalist,” McLaughlin has highlighted the growing role of tokenized financial services.
“Our mission is to build a common globalised acceptance network for regulated digital money including tokenised deposits and regulated stablecoins,” McLaughlin said.
“We are entering a world in which every regulated firm offers digital wallets in addition to traditional bank accounts,” he added.
When announcing its 2025 seed funding, Ubyx said its platform was designed to enable broad adoption of stablecoins, including those issued by major industry players including Ripple, Paxos, AllUnity and Eurodollar.
Relief for Strategy: MSCI keeps crypto treasuries in indexes
Shares in Michael Saylor’s Strategy rose 6.6% after Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) decided not to exclude digital asset treasury companies from its market index, for now.
In a note published Tuesday, MSCI said digital asset treasury companies (DATCOs) would, however, be subject to broader consultations to distinguish between investment companies and other companies that hold digital assets as part of their core operations.
”This broader review is intended to ensure consistency and continued alignment with the overall objectives of the MSCI Indexes, which seek to measure the performance of operating companies and exclude entities whose primary activities are investment-oriented in nature.”
The MSCI identifies DATCOs as companies in which digital assets make up 50% or more of their total assets.
The continued inclusion ensures that DATs are still eligible for passive index funds, sustaining demand and liquidity while broadening institutional ownership of digital assets.
Exclusion could have seen Strategy and other DATs lose billions of dollars in passive capital inflow.
Strategy, the largest crypto treasury company with 673,783 Bitcoin (BTC), fell 4.1% during Tuesday’s trading hours but rose 6.6% in after-hours following the news, Google Finance data shows.
TD Cowen: US midterms could delay crypto market structure bill
Investment bank TD Cowen has warned that the United States’ digital asset market structure legislation, known as the CLARITY Act, could remain stalled for the next year as Democrats and Republicans jockey for position ahead of the US midterm elections.
According to TD Cowen’s research team, Senate Democrats may seek to block the bill before the elections, given the potential for the midterms to shift the balance of power in Congress.
“Election outcomes are always uncertain, which is why Democrats may cut a deal,” the report said, according to a summary cited by Wu Blockchain.
TD Cowen added that time may ultimately favor passage of the legislation, noting that many of the political risks would disappear if the bill were enacted in 2027 and took effect in 2029.
However, the bank cautioned that the crypto industry would need to accept that the outcome of the presidential election could influence the final regulatory framework, while Democrats would likely need to accept that the bill’s conflict-of-interest provision would not apply to President Donald Trump.
