JPMorgan Chase & Co. has taken a landmark step in blockchain banking with the public rollout of its JPM Coin USD deposit token for institutional clients.
Source: Supplied. Calvin Taylor, chief financial officer of D24 Fintech.
The launch marks one of the most significant moves yet by a global bank to deploy a regulated digital deposit token on public blockchain infrastructure, signalling a new era for real-time, on-chain financial transactions.
The JPM Coin operates on Base, the public Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, representing a major milestone in bridging traditional finance (TradFi) with decentralised ledger technology.
Following a successful Proof-of-Concept involving early participation from B2C2, Coinbase, and Mastercard, JPMorgan has transitioned JPMD from pilot phase to full production. JPMD enables near-instant, 24/7 settlement of US-dollar deposits on Base, bypassing the constraints of legacy payment systems that depend on business hours and domestic clearing cycles.
On-chain confidence grows
Calvin Taylor, Chief Financial Officer: D24 Fintech, describes the development as a landmark moment in the evolution of digital money: “This announcement by JPMorgan demonstrates growing institutional confidence in blockchain as a settlement layer for regulated financial instruments. It is also a major statement to competitors, who now risk falling behind if they cannot provide equivalent solutions. JPMorgan appears to have found a way to offer near-instant settlements, 24/7, using a system that is both compliant and scalable.
“The potential to bring high-value institutional capital on-chain cannot be overlooked. This may be one of the keys to unlocking a genuinely low-cost, instantaneous global economy.”
Institutions using JPM Coin can now transfer funds between Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible wallets with real-time settlement and minimal friction. The token is fully backed 1:1 by US-dollar deposit liabilities at JPMorgan, providing a bank-regulated alternative to stablecoins. A further advantage is the potential for interest accrual on JPMD holdings, similar to traditional deposit products.
From pilot to production
This development places JPMorgan at the forefront of the banking industry’s race to explore the benefits of tokenising deposit liabilities on public blockchain infrastructure. Last summer, Deutsche Bank also announced that it was exploring stablecoins and tokenised deposits as part of its digital assets strategy. There have also been recent reports of an additional nine banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, planning to launch a G7-backed stablecoin.
While this announcement is highly significant for JPMorgan, it follows several years of development and rigorous testing. JPM Coin’s origins date back to 2019, when the bank first created a blockchain-based token for settling internal institutional cash movements on a permissioned ledger.
That early version saw rapid uptake within JPMorgan’s wholesale payments operations, processing billions of dollars daily. The latest iteration extends these capabilities beyond proprietary systems, symbolising a meaningful shift from closed, enterprise blockchains toward integration with the broader crypto ecosystem.
“JPMorgan’s move shows that institutions are gravitating toward real-time settlements that do not compromise regulatory oversight or balance-sheet certainty,” added Taylor. “Tokenised deposits offer this balance, but their impact will only be significant if adoption becomes widespread. Functional digital settlement ecosystems require shared protocols to operate efficiently, not isolated products.
“Launching on public blockchain rails confirms that blockchain is moving from experimentation to core financial infrastructure, with 2026 set to be a crucial year for blockchain financial technologies.”