JPMorgan Takes JPM Coin to Ethereum as Its Blockchain Unit Tops $7B a Day
October 19, 2026
Wall Street’s Biggest Bank Picks Ethereum
JPMorgan Chase, the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, is bringing its JPM Coin deposit token to Ethereum. The bank will offer the token to institutional clients on the network for payments and to settle deals in tokenized assets, according to Cointelegraph, citing a Bloomberg report published Monday, October 19. The move marks another step in a bank’s slow walk onto public blockchains. Less than a year ago, JPM Coin lived only on Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network built by Coinbase. Now the bank is going straight to Ethereum’s main network.What the Bank Has Announced
Emma Landriault, JPMorgan’s global head of Kinexys Labs, said the bank chose Ethereum for its liquidity and because many of its clients already use it. She described two main user groups. Crypto companies could use JPM Coin to make blockchain payments, while financial institutions could use it to settle trades and post collateral. Landriault did not say when the token would be available on Ethereum. JPMorgan also did not respond to Cointelegraph’s or CoinDesk’s requests for more details by publication time. Access will stay tight. Even though the tokens are issued on public networks, JPM Coin remains limited to approved institutional participants. When the token launched on Base in November 2025, a JPMorgan spokesperson said there were “no plans to offer JPM Coin to retail clients at this time.”
Deposit Tokens vs Stablecoins, Explained Simply
For a beginner, JPM Coin can look a lot like a stablecoin. Both are digital tokens worth one US dollar each, and both can move across a blockchain in seconds, at any hour of the day. The difference lies in what stands behind the token. A stablecoin such as USDC or USDT is issued by a private company. That company holds reserves, such as cash and short-term government bonds, to keep the token’s value steady. If you hold a stablecoin, you are relying on the issuer to manage those reserves properly. A deposit token works differently. Each JPM Coin is a direct claim on a US dollar deposit held at JPMorgan, and it counts as a regulated liability of the bank itself. In simple terms, it is a normal bank balance given a blockchain form, so it can move like crypto while still sitting inside the banking system. That is why banks favor the model. They keep the customer relationship and the deposit on their own books, while gaining the speed and round-the-clock settlement that blockchains offer.From Base to Canton to Ethereum
JPM Coin has been expanding in stages. The bank launched it on Base in November 2025 and said it planned to support more public blockchains. In January 2026, JPMorgan announced plans to bring the token, also known as USD JPM Coin (JPMD), to the Canton Network, a blockchain designed for regulated financial firms. The bank has also been using Ethereum in other ways. In December 2025, J.P. Morgan Asset Management launched MONY, a tokenized money market fund on Ethereum that gives qualified investors exposure to US Treasuries. Investors exploring the network themselves usually start by learning how to buy ETH and store it in a digital wallet, though JPM Coin itself will not be open to them.The Numbers Behind the Move
Kinexys, JPMorgan’s blockchain division, processes more than $7 billion in transactions per day, CoinDesk reported. That is a large figure, but it remains a small slice of the roughly $12 trillion the bank moves through its wider payments business every day. Ethereum, meanwhile, hosts applications holding almost $50 billion in crypto assets, according to DeFiLlama data CoinDesk cited. That pool of capital is a key reason a bank serving crypto firms would want its token on the same network. Ether itself was trading around $2,416 on Monday, showing little reaction to the news.Why Banks Could Keep Moving Onchain
JPMorgan is not acting alone. The bank, along with Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and more than a dozen other lenders, plans a shared US tokenized deposit network. JPMorgan is also among more than 30 banks helping SWIFT design its blockchain-based ledger. Competition with stablecoins appears to be one driver. Dollar tokens from issuers such as Circle and Tether have become a major part of crypto payments, and big companies have launched their own, as seen when Open USD went live on four chains with backing from Coinbase, Stripe, and Mastercard. Deposit tokens let banks offer similar speed without handing that business to outside issuers. If JPM Coin gains traction on Ethereum, other large banks may feel pressure to follow with their own tokens on public networks. Much still depends on timing, client demand and how regulators treat these products.A Public Chain, but a Private Club
The most telling detail in this story is the contrast between where JPM Coin will live and who can use it. Ethereum is open to anyone, yet JPM Coin will only move between approved institutions. The bank is borrowing the public network’s liquidity and reach while keeping the gates of traditional finance firmly in place. That hybrid model may become the template for how large banks use crypto infrastructure. Rather than replacing the banking system, blockchains are being folded into it. For now, the shift is happening mostly out of everyday users’ view, but the plumbing behind how money moves between big institutions appears to be changing.
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Madiha Riaz
Madiha is a seasoned researcher in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and emerging Web3 technologies. With a background in organic chemistry and a sharp analytical mindset, she brings scientific depth to decentralized innovation. Since discovering crypto in 2017 and investing in 2018, she’s been uncovering and sharing deep insights into how blockchain is redefining the digital asset landscape.
