JPMorgan Will Pilot ‘JPM Coin’ Stablecoin by End of 2019: Report

The United States' largest bank, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), is expecting to pilot its own cryptocurrency JPM Coin by the end of 2019, according to a Bloomberg report on June 25.

Umar Farooq, head of digital treasury services and blockchain at JPMorgan, has revealed the company’s intention to launch pilot testing of JPM Coin with selected clients “around the end of the year” in case if relevant regulators approve the bank to do so.

According to Farooq, JPMorgan has seen an increased interest from global customers in the potential benefits of the bank’s stablecoin project JPM Coin revealed in mid-February 2019. Specifically, JPMorgan clients in the U.S., Europe, and Japan have expressed interest to learn about JPM Coin’s capabilities in speeding up securities and bond transactions.

In this regard, Farooq stated that the bank’s stablecoin has a potential to enable “instant” delivery of bonds via blockchain. The JPM’s executive has also revealed the bank’s positive stance on tokenized and digital securities, predicting that a number of stocks will become digital in five to 20 years. Speaking in an interview in Tokyo, Farooq said:

“We believe that a lot of securities over time, in five to 20 years, will increasingly become digital or get tokenized.”

In the recent interview, Farooq has reiterated his optimistic stance towards blockchain tech, after claiming previously that blockchain applications are “frankly quite endless.”

Recently, JPM’s managing director of global market strategy revealed that the bank believes that the bitcoin (BTC) industry has changed since 2017 due to impact from institutional investors.