JPMorgan becomes the first major US bank with its own cryptocurrency

We all remember when Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan, announced that bitcoin is a fraud, and after that teased the crypto community about a potential JPM Coin, the project is now live.

As reported by The New York Times, JP Morgan officially became the first major US bank to launch a cryptocurrency that is going to have real-world use. It is a mistake to think that Mr. Dimon is anything but for blockchain, as his previous comments concerned the “people’s currency”, not the underlying technology-blockchain.

Not only that but JP Morgan even introduced a special blockchain platform called Quorum. Quorum is used by several large financial institutions to keep track of different financial metrics and data.

In addition, the JP Morgan executive responsible for blockchain strategies and initiatives at the bank said that it was the customers that demanded new and innovative ways for their money to be transacted with through blockchain. Since the technology has disrupted hundreds of sectors and business units, it is only natural for bank clients to demand blockchain solutions.

However, there is one significant difference between the JPM Coin and other cryptocurrencies: the former will be controlled directly by JP Morgan itself. Each coin will be backed up by a US dollar. This is positive news since the bank is essentially minimizing the price volatility that is “native” to cryptocurrencies.

Another specific detail regarding the JPM Coin is, as reported by the NY Times:

JPMorgan’s version will be less useful than other similar products because it will not be possible to move it outside the firm’s own systems, at least initially. What’s more, it is still just being tested and is not available to clients yet.

While the coin is still not available to JP Morgan’s clients, the advantage of the digital token will be the fast transaction speed that customers will enjoy, a benefit that is very important especially for transferring large sums of money.

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