Barclays is evaluating the development of a blockchain platform to handle payments and deposit services.

According to Odaily, Barclays Bank has sent requests for information to some potential technology vendors to assess how to build a blockchain platform for handling banking services such as payments. Possible applications include stablecoins and tokenized deposits, with the goal of selecting vendors as early as April.

The use of stablecoins in the payments sector is expanding. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that by 2030, the annual transaction volume of stablecoin payments could exceed 50 trillion USD. Previously, Meta also tested integrating stablecoin payments into its applications. Multiple banks have already begun deploying blockchain systems: JPMorgan has launched the deposit token JPM Coin for institutional clients to use in payments, and HSBC plans to expand its tokenized deposit services to corporate clients in the US and UAE in the first half of this year.