JPM Coin, the digital currency of investment bank JPMorgan, will be used commercially for the first time this week when sending payments around the world. Said Takis Georgakopoulos, head of the bank's payment department.
JPMorgan launches a division called Onyx, which develops blockchain and digital currency solutions. The division now employs over 100 people.
“We are launching Onyx in connection with the transition to the commercialization of these technologies. We are seeing a shift from research and development to what can become a real business,” said Georgakopoulos.
JPMorgan's solution is principally focused on large payments. According to Georgakopoulos, new technologies in this area will help save hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Sometimes payments are rejected due to errors in the account information or other issues. JPMorgan, which moves more than $ 6 trillion a day, is one of the largest players in the industry. Onyx CEO Umar Farouk said that if banks could confirm that payments are correctly informed before they are sent, it would help prevent costly rejections.
Another area is paper check processing, which could be radically simplified through the digitization of the information that is associated with a check. “We're talking about sending hundreds of millions of checks,” Georgakopoulos said. “By using a blockchain version where members are the main check issuers and the main safe operators, we can save 75% of the total costs for the industry and make checks available in minutes, not days.” According to Farouk, there are several months before the commercial launch of this project.
The bank is also exploring the possibility of creating new payment systems for central banks that have expressed interest in building their currencies. “Look at China or Singapore - they are looking for options for using digital currencies,” Georgakopoulos said. "If we can create a working model, the likelihood of acceptance is very high."