On Oct. 27th, JPMorgan announced the launch of their long-awaited “JPM Coin,” along with Onyx, their new branch for digital asset operations and custody services.
JPMorgan’s move, while contradicting to CEO Jamie Dimon’s 2017 claim that Bitcoin is a “fraud,” strategically places the bank along the cutting edge of financial technology, giving JP Morgan a strong positioning as the new age of decentralized financial services arises.
The launch of the JPM Coin along with Onyx is more than just JPMorgan jumping on the blockchain bandwagon. Rather, the launch of these services is indicative of the bank’s belief in the ever-expanding potential and use cases of blockchain technology to be a profitable and cost-efficient approach to the future of financial services.
Takis Georgakopoulos, JPMorgan’s global head of wholesale payments, stated in an interview last week about blockchain’s profitability, “We are launching Onyx because we believe we are shifting to a period of commercialization of those technologies, moving from research and development to something that can become a real business.”
Similarly, the bank plans on utilizing the permissionless efficiency of blockchain technology as it looks to build out cost effective solutions to risky interbank transfers and cross-border payments. Blockchain technology, as we all know, is no stranger to near immediate global value transfers with just the tap of a finger. To assist in their effort to rebuild the traditional flow of money, JPMorgan has launched Liink, a P2P network built on the Onyx blockchain platform to automatically validate payments and assist in quick, secure transactions that remove the risk of third-party interference and lag time.
As the crypto ecosystem enters into the era of widespread adoption, banks must future-proof themselves by recognizing trends in financial technology and embracing fintech momentum. In this day and age, it is imperative that banks alter their outdated approach to financial services and adapt a new, more efficient approach to banking: harnessing the power of blockchain technology. As JPMorgan pioneers Wall Street’s blockchain presence, financial services companies will soon be forced to follow suit in order to stay afloat in an increasingly decentralized world.
By Liam McDonald
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