JPMorgan is preparing to launch its dollar deposit token, JPM Coin, on Ethereum as the banking giant seeks to expand access to blockchain-based payments and settlement services for institutional customers.
The bank, the largest in the United States, is extending the reach of JPM Coin, which debuted nearly a year ago, beyond Base, the layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase Global (COIN).
Ethereum was selected because it offers greater liquidity than competing networks and already attracts institutional users, Emma Landriault, head of Kinexys Labs at JPMorgan’s blockchain division Kinexys, told Bloomberg.
JPMorgan first indicated in January that it intended to expand JPM Coin beyond Base, identifying the Canton Network as another potential destination. The broader rollout is designed to serve crypto companies seeking blockchain payment capabilities and traditional financial institutions that need digital tokens for trade settlement or to support tokenized assets, Landriault said.
However, she did not disclose when JPM Coin would become available on Ethereum. JPMorgan had not provided further details in response to CoinDesk’s inquiry before publication.
Tokenization converts real-world assets and financial instruments into digital representations that can be recorded and transferred on distributed ledgers. The technology can accelerate transaction settlement, enable faster money transfers and reduce the delays and inefficiencies associated with conventional financial systems.
Despite growing interest in tokenization, many banks have concentrated their efforts on private blockchain infrastructure rather than public networks. In the U.S., JPMorgan, Citi (C), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and more than a dozen other lenders are planning a shared platform for tokenized deposits.
JPMorgan’s Kinexys private blockchain already processes more than $7 billion in transactions daily. That remains a small fraction of the bank’s overall payments business, which handles approximately $12 trillion each day. Separately, data from DeFiLlama indicates that nearly $50 billion in crypto assets are held within applications operating on Ethereum.
JPMorgan is also participating in international efforts to develop blockchain-based financial infrastructure. The bank is among more than 30 lenders helping Swift, the interbank messaging service, establish the design and governance of a blockchain-based ledger.
In July, Swift announced that 17 banks, including Citi and Wells Fargo, were preparing to conduct live transaction trials on the platform. JPMorgan was not among the institutions named for that pilot.
