Wall Street's giant ship sets sail: JPMorgan creates "interoperable digital dollar," JPM Coin heads towards a multi-chain future

Global banking giant JPMorgan Chase is pushing its blockchain ambitions to new heights. The bank plans to expand its JPM Coin deposit token from the existing Ethereum Layer 2 network Base to privacy-focused Canton Network and other blockchain platforms, aiming to build a “regulated, interoperable digital dollar” system that spans public blockchains and private networks.

This strategy aims to provide institutional clients with near-instant, secure cross-border payments and settlement options. Meanwhile, its Kinetics digital payment network has successfully been deployed, helping multinational companies like Siemens achieve 7x24 real-time foreign exchange settlements. JPMorgan’s move marks a significant step in how traditional financial giants are, in a compliant and gradual manner, deeply reshaping the infrastructure of global capital flows and establishing a key paradigm for the integration of “blockchain + finance.”

Strategic Blueprint: From Private Experiments to Multi-Chain Public Infrastructure

JPMorgan’s blockchain narrative is undergoing a fundamental shift. This long-standing pioneer on Wall Street in blockchain exploration no longer confines itself to experiments within its own walled garden. Through its blockchain and digital payments division Kinetics, JPMorgan is actively steering its core innovation product—the JPM Coin deposit token—toward a broader, more diverse blockchain ecosystem. A spokesperson revealed a clear and ambitious ultimate goal: to create a “regulated, interoperable digital currency” that can flow securely and near-instantly across financial markets.

The starting point of this expansion is Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network built by a major CEX, which is currently the only public blockchain platform open to institutional clients for JPM Coin. The next, and more strategically significant step, is to connect to Canton Network. Canton is not an ordinary public chain; it is a “permissible” Layer 1 network supported by top-tier financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse, and BNY Mellon, designed specifically for institutional finance. Its core selling point is “configurable privacy,” enabling controlled data sharing and synchronization among institutions while meeting strict regulatory compliance requirements (such as KYC and AML). Introducing JPM Coin natively into Canton means JPMorgan is extending its reach into a highly trusted blockchain club built by traditional financial peers.

The underlying logic of this “multi-chain” strategy is interoperability. JPMorgan is not seeking a “final chain” but is laying out a network matrix. The spokesperson explained: “As we bring JPM Coin natively into Canton, it lays the foundation for a regulated, interoperable digital currency. With JPM Coin’s native usability, institutions using Canton will be able to receive, transfer, and redeem JPMD in a near-instant manner within a secure, synchronized ecosystem.” Essentially, this paints a future picture: regardless of whether assets and transactions are distributed across Base, Canton, or future added chains, JPM Coin can flow seamlessly like blood, serving as a unified medium for value settlement.

JPM Coin Analysis: How a Regulated Deposit Token Works

To understand JPMorgan’s ambitions, it’s essential to clarify what JPM Coin fundamentally is. It is neither a cryptocurrency nor a traditional stablecoin. JPM Coin is a “deposit token.” This subtle but crucial distinction defines its legal nature, risk model, and regulatory framework.

Simply put, each JPM Coin directly represents a US dollar deposit held in JPMorgan Chase accounts. It is a digital certificate of these bank deposits; holding JPM Coin is equivalent to having a corresponding claim on JPMorgan Chase’s deposit. This is fundamentally different from stablecoins like USDC or USDT: those are typically issued by commercial entities, promised to be backed 1:1 by reserves (such as treasuries or commercial paper), but are not bank deposits, do not have deposit insurance, and face more complex regulatory scrutiny. JPM Coin is an extension of bank money, born within the existing, mature banking regulatory system, with credit backing directly from JPMorgan Chase, a globally systemically important bank.

JPM Coin Core Operation Mechanisms

• Issuer and Backing: Issued directly by JPMorgan Chase, fully supported by the bank’s USD deposits.
• Legal Nature: A digital representation of bank deposits, with bank credit backing.
• Transaction Track: Fully operates on public blockchains (such as Base, Canton), with transaction records publicly accessible on-chain.
• Access Control: Currently limited to strictly vetted institutional clients (whitelisted addresses) to ensure compliance and AML.
• Core Functionality: Supports near-instant, 24/7 peer-to-peer transfers and settlement among institutional clients.
• Privacy Features: On networks like Canton, can incorporate “configurable privacy” to meet confidentiality needs of institutional transactions.

Technologically, JPM Coin runs in parallel with JPMorgan’s earlier private network Kinetics Digital Payments (launched in 2019, formerly Onyx). Kinetics provides “blockchain deposit accounts” for clients like Siemens, enabling 24/7 cross-border FX payments in USD, EUR, GBP, but remains a private, permissioned network. JPM Coin, on the other hand, has chosen a more open path: it has never operated on private permissioned infrastructure but was built from the start on public blockchain rails. When clients send or receive JPM Coin, the digital representation of their bank deposits is recorded directly on the chain. This design leverages the settlement finality and network effects of public blockchains while maintaining control through strict client onboarding and off-chain compliance frameworks.

JPMorgan approaches this expansion cautiously, emphasizing that “any expansion must go through internal review, risk management, and regulatory approval.” This reflects that even while embracing public blockchains technically, the bank remains steady and firm in its compliance and risk management approach.

What is Canton Network? Why Has It Become the First Choice for Financial Giants

JPMorgan’s choice of Canton Network as the second step in its JPM Coin expansion is no coincidence. It reflects a core demand among financial institutions embracing blockchain: balancing innovation with compliance, transparency with privacy. Canton Network was created precisely to meet these conflicting needs.

Developed by blockchain infrastructure firm Digital Asset and launched officially in 2024, Canton is governed by an independent Canton Foundation. It positions itself as an “interoperability network for institutional assets and markets.” Its most notable features are “configurable privacy” and “synchronization.” In typical financial transactions involving multiple parties (e.g., trading counterparties, custodians, clearinghouses, regulators), each party needs to see different information. Canton allows participants to control, via smart contracts, which data is visible to whom and when. This satisfies necessary transparency between counterparties, protects commercial sensitive information, and generates audit trails meeting various regulatory requirements.

This feature has rapidly attracted traditional financial giants. Besides JPMorgan, supporters include Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Börse, BNY Mellon, and DRW. These institutions are not only investors but active ecosystem builders. For example, DTCC has conducted a limited pilot of US Treasury securities tokenization on Canton. Digital Asset raised $135 million in June 2025 in a funding round led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets to accelerate the onboarding of real-world assets (RWA). Currently, the network has about 400 ecosystem participants.

For JPMorgan, deploying JPM Coin on Canton means directly embedding into an ecosystem built by peers, highly compliant, and soon to carry large-scale traditional assets (such as tokenized treasuries, private equity). JPM Coin can naturally serve as a settlement tool for these asset transactions. Kinetics Global Co-Head Naveen Mallela’s statement highlights the value of cooperation: “This collaboration advances the industry’s move toward trading on public blockchains. By bringing JPM Coin into Canton, we can further improve efficiency and unlock liquidity.” Essentially, this is an ecosystem positioning move, ensuring JPMorgan’s digital dollar remains a key player in future blockchain-reconstructed financial markets.

Market Impact and Future Outlook: Reshaping Institutional Liquidity Paradigms

The ripple effects of JPMorgan’s series of moves are spreading from Wall Street to the entire financial and crypto worlds. The impact is profound and multi-layered, involving not just technological paths but also market structures, competitive landscapes, and the evolution of currency forms.

The most immediate effect is providing institutional clients with a compliant, efficient new option. Through JPM Coin, corporate finance departments can bypass the complex intermediaries, working hours, and time zone limitations of traditional cross-border payments, achieving near-real-time fund transfers and settlements. Siemens’ use of Kinetics deposit accounts for USD-EUR cross-border FX already demonstrates its value in improving capital efficiency and liquidity management. As JPM Coin integrates with more blockchains and supports more currencies (the bank has plans to gradually add supported tokens), this efficiency will be exponentially amplified. Institutions can use digital assets for on-chain settlement or cross-border B2B transactions, greatly reducing friction costs.

Second, this intensifies the competition and cooperation between “official” and “grassroots” players in the digital dollar space. For a long time, the stablecoin market has been dominated by private issuers like USDT and USDC. JPM Coin’s emergence signifies a move by a “state-backed” force—fully regulated, capital-adequate, and with high credit ratings—entering the scene. It does not aim to completely replace existing stablecoins but offers a more conservative option favored by clients in the institutional finance niche. JPMorgan itself positions it as a “replacement for institutional stablecoins.” This suggests a future layered market: bank-issued deposit tokens dominate large-scale, inter-institutional transactions, while traditional stablecoins remain active in retail, DeFi, and broader crypto-native scenarios.

Looking ahead, JPMorgan’s roadmap is clear. Kinetics plans to phase in JPMD deployment on Canton by 2026 and is considering other integrations, such as bringing JPMorgan’s blockchain deposit accounts into Canton. A broader vision involves collaborating with DBS Bank in Singapore to develop an interoperable tokenized deposit transfer framework across multiple blockchain networks. This hints at JPMorgan’s ultimate goal: building a “global payment network” connecting major banks’ digital currencies worldwide, with JPM Coin and its underlying standards potentially becoming core protocols of this network.

Traditional Banks and Crypto: A Competitive Coexistence

JPMorgan’s blockchain strategy exemplifies the complex relationship between traditional finance giants and the crypto world. On one hand, CEO Jamie Dimon has long been known for sharply criticizing Bitcoin, calling it “fraud” and a “pet rock.” On the other hand, Dimon and other senior executives have recently expressed interest in stablecoins and the broader crypto space, and JPMorgan has been among the earliest and most in-depth institutions exploring blockchain technology on Wall Street. This “walks the line” reflects deep strategic considerations.

JPMorgan’s embrace of blockchain is pragmatic and focused. It is not driven by decentralization ideology or crypto price speculation but by the enormous potential of distributed ledger technology to improve financial infrastructure efficiency, reduce costs, and create new revenue streams. From early efforts like the Quorum permissioned Ethereum fork, to launching Kinetics, and issuing JPM Coin, the path has been consistent: prioritize control, absorb technological essence, serve clients and business, all within existing regulatory frameworks.

This approach contrasts sharply with the native crypto world, which often pursues open, permissionless, composable systems, sometimes even clashing with regulations. Giants like JPMorgan operate from a compliant, controlled, privacy-preserving perspective, building a “permissible innovation” parallel universe. While they borrow from the same tech stacks (smart contracts, zero-knowledge proofs), their application scenarios and user bases may coexist or gradually merge over time. Canton Network itself is an example: a consortium chain built by traditional financial players that incorporates features of public chains. JPMorgan bringing JPM Coin into Canton can be seen as an attempt to use its own rules and tools to participate in and guide this transformation of financial infrastructure.

Deposit Tokens vs. Stablecoins: A Definitional Battle Over the Future of Money

As JPM Coin expands, a more fundamental question emerges: what is the ideal form of digital currency in the future digital economy? This debate mainly revolves around two camps: “deposit tokens” and “stablecoins,” which, while similar in function, differ greatly in philosophy and risk profile.

Stablecoins, represented by USDT, USDC, etc., are essentially private currencies. Issued by commercial entities, they promise to be backed 1:1 by fiat currency or highly liquid assets. Their advantages lie in their roots in open crypto ecosystems, seamlessly connecting DeFi, exchanges, and cross-border payment platforms, creating enormous network effects and liquidity. However, risks are also evident: issuer credit risk (whether reserves are fully backed), regulatory uncertainty (whether they are classified as securities or money market funds), and operational risks. They are like “shadow banks” within the financial system—vibrant but shadowed.

Deposit tokens, exemplified by JPM Coin, are digital extensions of existing bank money. Their core advantages include inheriting the trust, regulatory clarity, and deposit insurance (if applicable) of traditional banking. They are directly anchored to central bank reserve systems, with extremely low credit risk, and operate within known financial regulatory frameworks from day one. Their disadvantages include limited openness: typically restricted to strictly vetted institutional clients, with barriers to integration into the broad crypto DeFi ecosystem, and potentially slower innovation due to bank risk controls and compliance processes.

JPMorgan’s efforts to multi-chain JPM Coin can be seen as an attempt to bridge these two models. By operating on public-like networks such as Base and Canton, JPM Coin aims to retain its “bank money” pedigree while gaining some liquidity and programmability from open ecosystems. This suggests that future digital currencies may not be a binary choice but a spectrum: at one end, fully open, permissionless stablecoins; at the other, fully closed, strictly regulated bank deposit tokens; with products like JPM Coin exploring a hybrid “configurable openness” mode. The outcome of this definitional contest will profoundly influence the way global capital flows and costs evolve over the coming decades.