Despite dividing opinions earlier this year with its “cryptocurrency” JPM Coin, American bank JP Morgan is rolling out its blockchain-based tech to more clients.
JP Morgan says potential clients from the US, Europe, and Japan are interested in using its digital coin to speed up securities trading, Bloomberg reports.
The US bank says that it’s aiming to begin testing its JPM Coin with external clients “around the end of the year.” That’s all well and good, but it will need to meet regulatory approval to go ahead, according to the bank’s head of digital treasurery services and blockchain, Umar Farooq.
JP Morgan believes its proprietary asset could make delivery of bonds quicker than conventional systems, which can take days to complete. Farooq says JPM Coin-backed seucrities could enable “instant” delivery of securities.
JP Morgan first revealed its US dollar-backed digital asset earlier this year with a raft of reports swiflty following.
Whether JPM Coin is a cryptocurrency is debateable. Given that it runs on an entirely permissioned (or if you prefer, centralized) distributed ledger platform. And of course, it can only be used by institutional customers that pass JP Morgan’s know-your-customer policies.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.