J.P. Morgan has achieved a significant milestone in the evolution of digital money, becoming the first bank to issue a USD-denominated deposit token on a public blockchain. Following a successful proof-of-concept, the JPM Coin deposit token (ticker: JPMD) is now available for J.P. Morgan’s institutional clients to use on Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built within Coinbase.
The launch, spearheaded by Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, the firm’s blockchain business unit, marks a tangible step toward bringing institutional finance securely on-chain. JPM Coin, which is not a stablecoin, provides J.P. Morgan’s institutional clients with the option to make on-chain native digital payments that serve as a digital representation of a bank deposit on the public blockchain.
Unlocking 24/7 Liquidity and Settlement
The move is designed to meet the rapidly growing demand from both digitally native firms and traditional institutions that want to engage further in the digital assets space with faster and easier money movement on public blockchains.
As part of the proof-of-concept, clients including B2C2, Coinbase, and Mastercard, successfully completed test transactions using JPMD, enabling near-instant, 24/7 settlement and real-time liquidity.
Thomas Restout, group CEO of B2C2, emphasized the critical nature of this advancement. “Integrating JPM Coin into our infrastructure helps us to deliver real-time, on-chain settlement with the assurance of a regulated USD deposit, a critical advancement in market infrastructure that strengthens liquidity, trust and interoperability across digital assets,” Restout stated.
The deployment on Base is key to the efficiency gains. Jesse Pollak, creator of Base and VP of engineering at Coinbase, noted that the public blockchain offers sub-second, sub-cent, 24/7 settlement, which makes payment transfers between J.P. Morgan institutional clients nearly free and instantaneous, even across international borders.
A regulated bridge to the on-chain economy
The launch builds on J.P. Morgan’s existing blockchain deposit accounts on its private permissioned blockchain, extending the security of bank-backed deposits with the speed and innovation of 24/7 blockchain transactions.
Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, confirmed that the firm is leading the way in digital payments. “With JPM Coin now available to our institutional clients, we’re moving the industry forward in transacting on public blockchains, beginning with Base,” Mallela said. “JPM Coin delivers the security of bank-backed deposits and settlement, combined with the speed and innovation of 24/7, near real-time blockchain transactions, increasing efficiency and unlocking liquidity.”
Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, Blockchain & Digital Assets at Mastercard, also commented on the integration. “Collaborating with Kinexys by J.P. Morgan to bring JPM Coin to the Mastercard Token Network marks a milestone in our strategy to build an open, interoperable network for digital assets and bank deposits,” Dhamodharan said.
J.P. Morgan’s institutional clients can now use JPM Coin to make near real-time peer-to-peer transfers between Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible wallets. The deposit token is also designed for integration with smart contracts on public blockchain networks, which is expected to facilitate complex financial workflows and automation in the future.
