JP Morgan's Stablecoin
JPMorgan just put real bank money on a public blockchain
Hey, it’s Marc!
Last week, JP Morgan did something it had never done before: it put real bank money on a public blockchain. Not their private network. Not their controlled environment. The actual internet, where anyone can see every transaction.
They called it JPMD—JP Morgan Deposit Token. [Announcement]
What happened:
JPMorgan issued a new token called JPMD
It represents real deposits held at JPMorgan
It runs on Base (Coinbase’s public blockchain)
It’s designed for institutional clients
Unlike stablecoins, it can offer interest and deposit insurance
Let's unpack this:
Until now, most stablecoins were backed 1:1 by cash and treasuries — but outside the banking system.
JPMD changes that.
It's essentially a digital version of the deposits that customers hold in their accounts.
In plain English: Commercial bank money, wrapped in a token, moving at crypto speed.
Stablecoins must be backed 1:1 with reserves.
JPMD is not a stablecoin; it’s a deposit token underpinned by fractional banking.
So instead of locking up billions in Treasuries, JPMorgan can put that capital to work — just like with normal deposits.
The evolution: JPM Coin (2019) → Programmable payments (2023) → JPMD deposit token (2025)
Phase 1: Control the Rails
JPM Coin runs on Quorum, the bank's private blockchain. It processes over $2B daily and has handled $1.5T in total volume.
The use case is simple: corporate treasuries moving money between accounts in real-time instead of waiting days for traditional settlement.
Why it works: JPMorgan controls everything—the network, the nodes, the rules. Corporate clients get speed without giving up regulatory comfort.
Phase 2: Add Intelligence
In 2023, JPMorgan added programmable payments to JPM Coin. Companies like Siemens can now trigger automatic payments when preset conditions are met.
Example: Treasury balance drops below $10M → automatically transfer $50M from another account.
The insight: Static cash forecasting is dead. Corporations want dynamic funding that responds to real-time conditions.
Phase 3: Go Public
JPMD breaks JPMorgan's blockchain strategy onto public rails. Unlike fintech stablecoins, JPMD represents actual JPMorgan deposits and runs on Coinbase's Base network.
Key difference: JPMD holders own bank deposits, not treasury bills. They get deposit insurance, interest payments, and full integration with JPMorgan's existing systems.
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Wait, what about JPM coin?
JPMD isn't JPM Coin 2.0. JPM Coin was internal plumbing, a fancy way for JP Morgan to move money between its own clients on a private network. JPMD is the opposite. It runs on Base, Coinbase's blockchain, where anyone can watch transactions happen in real-time.
JPM Coin
Launched in 2019
Runs on JPMorgan’s private blockchain (Onyx)
Used for internal settlements between JPMorgan and corporate clients
Only moves funds within JPMorgan accounts
Think: fast, private rails for moving balances inside the bank
JPMD (JPMorgan Deposit Token)
Aims to move real commercial bank money across institutions
Built for external, interoperable use — like cross-border payments or institutional settlement
Ready to be plugged directly into onchain apps, wallets, and platforms
We help teams like Avalanche, Near, and MoonPay drive awareness, institutional credibility, and deal flow. We’re not a marketing agency. We are native industry veterans and operators with 10+ years in the space.
Why it’s important
This wasn't just another crypto experiment from a bank's innovation lab. This was America's largest bank admitting that the future of money won't run on the rails they've controlled for decades.
JPMD gives institutions all the speed and programmability of crypto, but with something stablecoins can't offer: the full backing of a bank that's too big to fail.
“From an institutional standpoint, deposit tokens are a superior alternative to stablecoins. Because they are based on fractional banking, we think it is more scalable.” — said JPM’s Naveen Mallela .
Meaning: JPMorgan doesn’t need to hold $1 in reserves for every $1 of JPMD issued.
Instead, they can keep a smaller percentage in reserve (say, 10%) and lend out the rest.
That’s how banks make money, and it’s what allows them to scale.
The Strategic Logic: JPMorgan identified the stablecoin threat early: every dollar in third-party stablecoins is a dollar not sitting in bank deposits earning a spread.
Their solution: offer blockchain benefits while keeping the deposits in-house.
Why now
The GENIUS Act just passed the Senate, giving stablecoins legal clarity
The SEC said fully-backed digital dollars aren’t securities
And the tech is here — fast, cheap blockchains and real settlement infrastructure
Now, big Tech, fintech, and banks are all coming for the payments rails. And banks feel the heat.
In the last 60 days alone:
Amazon and Walmart explored launching their own stablecoins
Stripe rolled out stablecoin payments to 101 countries
Fiserv launches its stablecoin, FIUSD
PayPal doubled down on PYUSD with new wallet integration
Mastercard plugged stablecoins into direct card rails with Chainlink
The stakes?
Amazon processes $638B/year
Walmart: $122B/year
Both pay billions in card fees to banks and processors
If they issue their own tokens, they don’t just save money; they own the payment rails, the data, and the customer relationship.
This is a coordinated land grab for the global financial stack:
Big Tech: Amazon, Stripe, PayPal
Banks: JPM, Citi, BoA, Wells Fargo, Standard Chartered
Crypto infra: Coinbase, Circle, Tether, and others.
And even airlines and Expedia are in the mix
What’s Next
JPMorgan isn't stopping at payments. The bank is tokenising bonds, repo agreements, and money market fund shares.
The endgame: become the infrastructure layer for tokenised finance. Instead of fighting blockchain adoption, JPMorgan wants to own the rails that make it possible.
Three strategic moves to watch:
Partnership expansion: JPMorgan already connects with Mastercard's Multi-Token Network and Coinbase's Base. Expect more integrations.
Regulatory arbitrage: JPMD operates under existing banking law, avoiding crypto regulations. This gives JPMorgan a compliance advantage over pure-play stablecoin issuers.
Asset tokenisation: Beyond payments, JPMorgan is building the infrastructure for tokenised securities, repos, and fund shares.
JPMorgan's blockchain strategy isn't about replacing traditional banking—it's about extending traditional banking onto blockchain infrastructure.
Be smart: Previous attempts at alternative payment systems usually failed because they couldn't reach critical mass. PayPal succeeded because it solved a real problem (online payments) when alternatives were terrible.
The stablecoin moment is different because all three player types have legitimate advantages:
Banks have regulatory clarity and balance sheet depth
Tech companies have user bases and technical infrastructure
Retailers have transaction volume and customer incentives
None of them needs to win everything. They just need to win enough to make the traditional card networks sweat.
That’s all for now.
Best,
Marc & Team
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Great read! Well done.