Barclays considers Blockchain platform for payments, deposits

• Barclays explores blockchain for payments and tokenized deposits
• Bank seeks tech partners, may select providers as soon as April
• Stablecoins could reach $50 trillion in payments by 2030

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Barclays Plc is sounding out technology providers on creating a blockchain platform for handling processes like payments, joining global rivals like JPMorgan Chase & Co. in exploring the use of digital-asset technology for various banking services.

The UK-based lender has sent a request for information to some potential technology suppliers as it evaluates how to build out new offerings, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as the deliberations are private.

Barclays’s push into blockchain technology could include payments applications like stablecoins and tokenized deposits, the people said. The bank aims to select providers as soon as in April, they added. A spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment.

Stablecoins are gaining ground in payments, posing a potential threat to banks’ mainstay business as technology companies and fintechs push into the space. Meta Platforms Inc. is exploring ways to integrate stablecoin payments into its apps and is testing such offerings, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Such tokens, which are typically pegged to an asset like the dollar, could account for more than $50 trillion in payments annually by 2030, Bloomberg Intelligence estimates. Tether Holdings SA’s USDT and Circle Internet Group Inc.’s USDC are by far the biggest stablecoins.

Banks are moving to defend their turf and take advantage of the opportunity by establishing blockchain systems that can handle things like payments and settlement around-the-clock.

JPMorgan began rolling out a deposit token called JPM Coin, which can be used for making payments, to institutional clients late last year. HSBC Holdings Plc plans to expand its tokenized deposit service to corporate clients in the US and United Arab Emirates in the first half of this year. Tokenized deposits are essentially an on-chain representation of the money clients hold in their bank accounts.

Most of these systems are still nascent, and while banks and large corporates have tested blockchain-based services for over a decade, the volumes they handle are still nowhere near as large as over traditional platforms.