J.P. Morgan Is Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency
While the cryptocurrency craze may have died down a bit, J.P. Morgan Chase is betting big on the digital asset by creating the first cryptocurrency by a major US bank, CNBC reports.
The financial service company will begin with a trial period in the next few months, moving a portion of its $6 trillion daily lending by JPM Coin. This digital token will serve to instantly settle payments between clients.
In order to utilize the blockchain database technology, J.P. Morgan will use JPM Coin to transfer money much faster, as opposed to older, slower means, such as wire transfer.
"So anything that currently exists in the world, as that moves onto the blockchain, this would be the payment leg for that transaction," said Umar Farooq, head of J.P. Morgan's blockchain projects. "The applications are frankly quite endless; anything where you have a distributed ledger which involves corporations or institutions can use this."
Furthermore, J.P. Morgan's JPM Coin will account for one of the first real-world applications for a cryptocurrency in banking, as most institutions insist such a digital asset is too risky. JPM Coin will also function differently than other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, with large corporations such as banks and broker dealers seemingly being the only ones capable of using the tokens.
CNBC goes on to point out that each JMP Coin is redeemable for one US dollar, meaning its value should not fluctuate. Once a client deposits money at the bank, they will receive the coins to use as payment or security purchase on the blockchain. After they are spent, the coins are destroyed by the bank.
To begin, JMP Coin will be used for international payments for large corporate clients, securities transactions, and corporations that utilize J.P Morgan's treasury services business, replacing dollars held in subsidiaries.
For more on J.P. Morgan's cryptocurrency, follow on over to CNBC.