Tony McLaughlin is the founder and CEO of the stablecoin clearing system Ubyx Inc. and for his prior work at Citigroup, where he was the architect of the Regulated Liability Network (RLN) concept. ^{[1] [2]}

Education

Tony McLaughlin attended St. Columba’s High School between 1982 and 1988. He later studied at Heriot-Watt University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Business Organisation in 1992. ^[15]

Career

Citigroup and the Regulated Liability Network

McLaughlin worked at the global financial institution Citigroup for approximately two decades, establishing himself as a veteran in the payments, foreign exchange, and corporate cash management sectors. During his tenure, he became a key figure in the bank's exploration of digital assets and blockchain technology. His most notable contribution was creating the vision for the Regulated Liability Network (RLN). The RLN is a conceptual framework for a shared financial market infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). The network was designed to allow for the seamless coexistence and interoperability of various forms of regulated digital money, including tokenized deposits from commercial banks, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and regulated stablecoins.

The RLN concept developed under McLaughlin's guidance gained significant traction within the global financial community. It has been cited as a direct inspiration for the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) "Unified Ledger" concept, which explores similar principles for the future of financial market infrastructure. He also instigated Project Agora, a collaborative initiative between the BIS and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) focused on tokenization in finance. ^{[2] [1] [3] [4]}

Founding of Ubyx Inc.

In January 2025, it was reported that McLaughlin was departing from Citigroup to establish his own venture. After a period of "gardening leave," he officially launched Ubyx Inc. on March 24, 2025, the same day the company was legally incorporated in the United States. Based in London, Ubyx was founded to address the fragmentation and lack of interoperability within the growing stablecoin market. McLaughlin serves as the company's Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

McLaughlin has described Ubyx's mission as building a "stablecoin clearing system" or a universal acceptance layer, drawing comparisons to the role Visa and Mastercard play in the global card payment system. The system is designed to connect multiple stablecoin issuers with a network of regulated banks and fintech companies, enabling direct on-ramps and off-ramps between stablecoins and fiat currency in bank accounts without the need for a crypto exchange intermediary. He stated that the catalyst for founding the company was the increasing regulatory clarity for stablecoins in the United States, which he believed created a "green light" for banks and fintechs to engage with the asset class.

On June 17, 2025, Ubyx announced it had raised $10 million in a seed funding round. The round was led by Galaxy Ventures and included participation from prominent investors such as Founders Fund, Coinbase Ventures, Paxos, and VanEck. Under his leadership, Ubyx has established a broad ecosystem of partners, including numerous stablecoin issuers and support for multiple public blockchains such as Solana, Polygon, Avalanche, and the XRP Ledger. The company announced plans for the network to go live in the fourth quarter of 2025. ^{[9] [1] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [3] [9] [15]}

Public Appearances and Recognition

McLaughlin is a frequent speaker at financial industry events, where he discusses the future of money, stablecoins, and digital assets. His engagements have included:

• A session at Money20/20 Europe on June 5, 2025, titled "Stablecoins, CBDCs & Tokenized Deposits: Finance of Tomorrow’s Bank and the Stack of the Future." ^[2]
• A webinar for the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) on July 30, 2025, where he presented on the nature of stablecoins, regulation, and associated counterparty risks. ^[10]

His work and insights have been featured in publications such as Bloomberg, Ledger Insights, and others covering the intersection of traditional finance and digital currency. ^{[3] [5]}

Vision and Quotes

McLaughlin is a vocal proponent of a future financial system built on digital wallets and tokenized assets rather than traditional bank accounts. He has described himself as a "stablecoin maximalist" and believes the market will support thousands of different stablecoin issuers, similar to the thousands of card issuers in the legacy payment system. ^[8]

Notable quotes attributed to Tony McLaughlin include:

• On the shift in financial architecture: "The age of accounts is ending. The age of wallets is beginning." ^[8]
• On the mission of Ubyx: "Ubyx represents the coming of age of stablecoins as the industry self-organises to deliver stablecoin ubiquity. Ubyx enables a pluralistic market structure with multiple issuers, multiple blockchains and multiple currencies in a global, interoperable network. The future of payments is stablecoin native." ^[9]
• On simplifying stablecoin adoption for banks: "Banks shouldn’t have to build their systems to support stablecoins... We want to make it as easy as issuing a card." ^[7]
• On the practical function of the Ubyx network: "This would enable people to take stablecoins to a bank and for the bank to give them credit for the equivalent in their account." ^[11]

Interviews

Tony McLaughlin’s Ubyx: Enabling Stablecoin Ubiquity #01

On March 24, 2025, Tony McLaughlin participated in an interview on the OMFIF Digital Monetary Institute channel with editor Lewis McLellan. During the discussion, McLaughlin introduced Ubyx, a project presented in a whitepaper released on the same date. The initiative was described as a clearing system intended to position stablecoins as cash-equivalent instruments within financial infrastructures.

In the interview, McLaughlin explained that the development of stablecoins faces obstacles related to regulatory requirements, bilateral arrangements between issuers and receivers, and the integration of these assets with established banking systems. He stated that Ubyx seeks to address these issues through a decentralized clearing framework, drawing comparisons with traditional payment models such as checks and card networks, while adapting them to public blockchain environments. Governance of the system, according to his description, would be carried out through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and guided by an open-source rulebook.

McLaughlin indicated that stablecoins already serve as a common medium of exchange in blockchain transactions but remain limited by fragmented adoption and restricted interoperability. Ubyx was presented as a model designed to establish multi-party connections between issuers and receivers, allowing banks and fintechs to host wallets and convert stablecoins to deposits at par value. He also referred to potential economic incentives, including transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads, as mechanisms to support banks in operating within the system.

The conversation concluded with McLaughlin’s mention of the planned creation of the Ubyx Association, which would involve organizations in stablecoin strategy development, along with preparations for a live implementation of the clearing system. The project was presented as a framework intended to expand the role of stablecoins within the global financial ecosystem. ^[16]

Can Banks Win the Stablecoin Race? #02

On September 11, 2025, Tony McLaughlin was interviewed by Adi Ben-Ari on the Applied Blockchain Podcast. During the conversation, McLaughlin described what he refers to as the beginning of the “Stablecoin Epoch” and discussed its possible implications for financial services.

Based on his professional background in the payments sector, he explained that stablecoins and tokenized deposits may develop into a standard format for digital money, shifting from the account-based model toward a wallet-centered approach. He compared stablecoins to digital versions of travelers checks, noting that both operate as bearer instruments issued by regulated entities, but stablecoins function on public blockchains.

McLaughlin noted that blockchain technology provides a shared state system that updates balances across multiple institutions simultaneously, reducing the reconciliation challenges of traditional financial processes. He also stated that both banks and fintech companies are expected to operate on public blockchains, and that the financial landscape may involve the coexistence of public and permissioned networks.

He outlined Ubyx as a project focused on stablecoin acceptance and stressed the importance of practical use in order to understand the characteristics and limitations of tokenized money. According to his view, direct engagement with wallets and transactions is necessary to evaluate the role stablecoins could play in the financial system. ^[17]