JPMorgan is expanding its alliance with blockchain technology. In a recent development, the US-based bank said it has rebranded its blockchain unit, originally launched as ‘Onyx’, to ‘Kinexys’ to signify its operational roadmap for Web3 adoption. The rebranding brings along an array of new financial products and services with blockchain at the centre. This development follows JPMorgan’s intensified exploration into Real World Asset (RWA) tokenisation.
Expanding on the rebranding, the bank explained that the name ‘Kinexys’ is derived from the word ‘kinetic,’ meaning ‘caused by motion.’
“This is representative of the way we move money, assets and financial information around the world with speed, ease and efficiency. Together with our clients, we aim to move beyond the limitations of legacy technology and realise the promise of a multichain world,” Umar Farooq, co-head of JPMorgan Payments said in a statement.
As of November 2024, JPMorgan’s market cap is reportedly ₹58.517 trillion (roughly $ 693.5 billion), making it the world’s 13th most valuable company by market cap.
In its statement, the bank asserted that integrating blockchain into its systems has established a secure infrastructure for clients to transfer cross-border funds seamlessly, even outside of traditional market hours, while also enabling new services related to RWA tokenisation.
“Soon, we’ll be adding foreign exchange (FX) capabilities to Kinexys Digital Payments (formerly JPM Coin System). We’ve also announced a proof-of-concept (POC) from Kinexys Digital Assets and Kinexys Labs. This POC demonstrates on-chain privacy, identity and composability—major themes that will play significantly into our continued evolution,” the statement announced.
Over the past two years, JPMorgan’s Onyx initiative has attracted prominent institutional clients, including Siemens, Ant International, and BlackRock. As per company figures, Onyx managed to exceed $1.5 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,26,55,856 crore) in notional value, processing an average daily transaction volume of over $2 billion.
“We’re furthering our exploration of privacy, identity and composability in blockchain ecosystems. nhanced privacy measures are crucial for improving access to digital assets, while streamlining identity management is intrinsically linked to the potential for tokenised assets at scale,” JPMorgan noted.
Beyond blockchain, the New York City-based bank is also exploring other Web3 technologies. Despite a slowdown in the metaverse sector, the bank announced last December that it was looking forward to test the ‘immersive training applications’ of metaverse.
In May 2022, the bank predicted that as regulatory oversight of crypto assets grows, they will eventually integrate with traditional finance. That same year, the bank also explored launching a crypto wallet service to address emerging market demands.