- JPMorgan has launched Onyx, a new business division for its blockchain projects, after its digital token was adopted for commercial use by a big technology client for the first time this week, CNBC reported.
- A blockchain lead at the bank confirmed the report in a tweet.
- JPM Coin is now being used for round-the-clock global payments by a “large technology client,” the bank’s global head of wholesale payments told CNBC. The client was not named.
- “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,” Takis Georgakopoulos said in a CNBC interview.
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JPMorgan has launched a new business division dedicated to blockchain technology, called Onyx, after the bank’s own digital currency was adopted for commercial use this week, CNBC reported on Tuesday.
A JPMorgan spokesperson confirmed the report to Business Insider.
JPM Coin, which was created last year, has been picked up for round-the-clock global payments by a “large technology client” this week, Takis Georgakopoulos, the bank’s global head of wholesale payments, told CNBC in a phone interview.
He did not name the client, but said others are being onboarded too.
That headway and other under-the-radar progress induced the launch of Onyx, which is aimed at capturing the major shift towards digital currencies in the financial services industry.
"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," Georgakopoulos told CNBC.
Onyx is staffed with over 100 employees.
The development could be a push in favor of other blockchain and crypto-based industries that have been advocating for the end of traditional currencies.
Last week was a bullish one for digital currencies, as US payments firm PayPal announced it would allow use of Bitcoin on its network, investor Paul Tudor Jones called it the "best inflation trade," and JPMorgan published positive research on the cryptocurrency.
The price of Bitcoin has soared by almost 25% this month to its highest since early 2018 and is now closing in on $14,000.
Tyler Winkelvoss, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has even said the US dollar is "no longer a store of value" and has long recommended buying Bitcoin.
JPMorgan plans to focus on building a more inclusive system in the wholesale payments world to reimagine efficient ways of exchange and value, Georgakopoulos said.