JPMorgan officially rolls out 'JPM Coin' deposit token on Base

JPMorgan has officially rolled out its USD-denominated deposit token JPM Coin (JPMD) to institutional clients on Base Layer 2, following months of testing.

After completing a pilot initiated in June, Kinexys by JPMorgan has now made JPMD available for 24/7, near-instant settlement, allowing institutional clients to send and receive the token on Base, according to a statement shared with The Block.

Major financial players including B2C2, Coinbase, and Mastercard have already tested transactions using the token, JPMorgan said.

The deposit token serves as a representation of JPMorgan's existing bank deposits on a public blockchain, enabling the bank's institutional clients to make onchain native payments with enhanced speed and efficiency, according to the statement. Unlike many stablecoins, JPMD is designed for institutional clients with regulatory compliance, know-your-customer and banking infrastructure.

"We're moving the industry forward in transacting on public blockchains, beginning with Base, the Ethereum Layer 2 public blockchain built within Coinbase," said Naveen Mallela, global co-head of Kinexys by JPMorgan.

JPMorgan aims to expand the deposit token to more blockchains, according to a Wednesday Bloomberg report. Mallela added that the bank has secured the trademark JPME, signaling plans for a potential euro-denominated deposit token in the future.

In a related development, DBS and Kinexys announced Monday that they are developing an interoperability framework to enable transfers of tokenized deposits across public and permissioned blockchain networks.

Other major lenders are also exploring tokenized deposit services. Bloomberg reported last month that BNY Mellon has been assessing tokenized deposits that would allow clients to make payments over blockchain rails. In the UK, Barclays, Lloyds, and HSBC have also begun a pilot of tokenized sterling deposits.