Barclays looks for tech provider for new blockchain settlement engine: Bloomberg

Multinational bank Barclays (BARC) is exploring the creation of a blockchain platform for payments and other processes, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The London-based financial services giant is consulting with prospective technology providers on the development of such a platform that would see it rival JPMorgan (JPM) and others in using decentralized technology for banking services.

Barclays’ blockchain-based plans could include stablecoins and tokenization, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter.

JPMorgan first allowed tokenized deposits — deposits represented as digital tokens on a decentralized ledger — through its dollar-denominated JPM Coin all the way back in 2019.

More recently, HSBC has also enabled tokenized deposits to expand its own push into blockchain-based payments.

Such institutions are exploring how blockchain technology can make existing financial processes more transparent and more efficient by carrying them out on decentralized networks that lack some of the input of intermediaries and allow faster settlement.

Barclays did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

Read More: JPMorgan expands blockchain goals, plans to build ‘interoperable digital money’