In brief
- JP Morgan Chase plans to pilot a deposit token called JPMD on Ethereum layer-2 network Base.
- It can initially be used by approved Coinbase institutional clients.
- The token will later be available for use by other investors, pending regulatory approval.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. unveiled its plans to debut a so-called deposit token, JPMD, on Tuesday, just one day after a social media post ignited widespread speculation about the digital asset.
The U.S. investment bank is expected to transfer an undisclosed amount of JPMD to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in the coming days, Naveen Mallela, global co-head of JP Morgan’s blockchain unit Kinexys, said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg News.
JP Morgan defines deposit tokens as “commercial bank money,” or “transferable tokens issued on a blockchain by a licensed depository institution which evidence a deposit claim against the issuer," according to a Kinexys white paper.
The tokens, under development since 2023, form part of a type of blockchain-based asset that can be used for payment settlement.
Decrypt reached out to JP Morgan for additional comment. The company’s share price fell 0.3% in Tuesday trading.
The bank will issue its deposit token on Base, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain launched by Coinbase. The transfer will be denominated in U.S. dollars.
“Moving money should take seconds, not days," Base said Tuesday in a statement on social media. “Commercial banking is coming on-chain.”
The token will be used in a pilot program for several months, according to Base. During that time, approved Coinbase institutional clients will have the ability to use JPMD for transactions.
JP Morgan Exec Wary of 'Overcrowding' Stablecoin Market as Bank Registers JPMD Trademark
An exec from Wall Street giant JP Morgan said at Tuesday's DigiAssets 2025 conference that she's wary of having to navigate an "overcrowded" stablecoin market. But she said that less than 48 hours after the bank registered a trademark for JPMD, which it said it intends to use for payments and "virtual currency, digital currency." "I just think we, as an industry, we all sort of just need to take a little bit of a step back and think about whether we will end up overcrowding the market, or wheth...
Later, other users will have access to JPMD, and its currency denominations will be expanded, pending regulatory approval.
The announcement dispels widespread speculation that JPMD might have been a stablecoin—a rumor that gained traction across X on Monday. Crypto industry experts pointed to the asset’s initialism and details from JP Morgan's filing on Sunday with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as evidence the token could have been some sort of stablecoin.
The rumors swirled as major financial institutions increasingly embrace stablecoins, and just ahead of Tuesday afternoon's successful passage of stablecoin legislation through the U.S. Senate.
Senate Passes Landmark Stablecoin Bill in Major Boon for Crypto Industry
After months of dramatic starts and stops, the U.S. Senate successfully passed the GENIUS Act Tuesday afternoon, a landmark bill that formally establishes a framework for issuing and trading stablecoins in the United States. The bill passed 68-30, with 18 Democrats joining Republicans in support of the legislation. A Senate Republican, Josh Hawley (R-MO), voted against the bill, joining progressive Senate Democrats like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in opposition to provisions in the legislation that...
The revelation also comes amid JP Morgan's bid to deepen its foray into the crypto world.
In May, reports emerged that JP Morgan and several other major banks were in discussions over whether to team up on a jointly issued stablecoin.
JP Morgan has experimented with blockchain technologies since at least 2020, when it introduced its blockchain initiative, Onyx. Now called Kinexys, the blockchain processes more than $2 billion in daily transaction volumes, data shows
Edited by James Rubin
