The first digital currency created by a major US bank is finally here! This morning, CNBC was first to report that JPMorgan Chase has officially launched its own cryptocurrency. The first JPM Coin trial is set to launch in just a few months.
JPM Coin Makes Trial Debut
JPMorgan Chase moves more than $6 trillion around the world a day and soon the company will test its new JPM coin. The bank’s new digital currency will be tested to settle payments between its clients.
JPMorgan’s trial will start small but it’s the bank’s way of preparing for a future that blockchain is the main technology in the banking system. JPM Coin will focus first on international settlements by major corporations, hoping to improve the current SWIFT system. Essentially, JPMorgan will try and accomplish what Ripple is doing with RippleNet and XRP.
“So anything that currently exists in the world, as that moves onto the blockchain, this would be the payment leg for that transaction,” said Umar Farooq, head of JPMorgan’s blockchain projects. “The applications are frankly quite endless; anything, where you have a distributed ledger which involves corporations or institutions, can use this.”
JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon has been a long-time cryptocurrency doubter, which makes this movement and the new JPM coin a bit surprising. Dimon has even gone as far as calling Bitcoin a fraud.
The world’s first digital currency was birthed by Satoshi Nakamoto due to the financial crisis in 2008. The crisis was started by the US’s major banks, including JPMorgan. Bitcoin was made to disrupt the established banking world.
When these new international payments are tested, it will be one of the first real-world applications for cryptocurrency in banking. Each JPM Coin will be redeemable for a single USD, making it a so-called stablecoin.
Cryptocurrency Price Movements
According to CoinMarketCap, the news hasn’t really affected the price of digital currencies as much as you would think. Usually, when big news strikes like this investors buy in, but that’s not the case today. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $3,616.83 a coin, down -0.30%. Coins in the top 50 digital currencies are seeing slight gains and losses.
Featured Image: Twitter
