Jamie Dimon Doesn’t Rule Out Consumer Payments Via JPM Coin

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said the bank’s new cryptocurrency, JPM Coin, could one day be used by consumers, according to CNBC.

“JPMorgan Coin could be internal, could be commercial, it could one day be consumer,” Dimon said during a question-and-answer session at the bank’s annual investor day.

The bank became the first to create its own cryptocurrency earlier this month. It was designed to settle transactions with clients of its wholesale payments operation, mainly for international and securities transactions related to blockchain.

The bank’s website says it does not have any plans to give individuals access to the coin. Currently, the digital token is being tested inside the bank with corporate clients, unlike bitcoin, which is open source and can be accessed by anyone.

“JPM Coin is currently a prototype that will be tested with a small number of JPMorgan’s institutional clients, with plans to expand the pilot program later this year,” the bank’s website says. “JPM Coin is currently designed for business-to-business money movement flows, and because we are still in a testing phase, we don’t have plans to make this available to individuals at this stage. That said, the cost savings and efficiency benefits would extend to the end customers of our institutional clients.”

Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” during the apex of the crypto boom. The bank said it supported crypto as long as it was properly regulated.

“We have always believed in the potential of blockchain technology, and we are supportive of cryptocurrencies as long as they are properly controlled and regulated,” the bank said. “As a globally regulated bank, we believe we have a unique opportunity to develop the capability in a responsible way with the oversight of our regulators. Ultimately, we believe that JPM Coin can yield significant benefits for blockchain applications by reducing clients’ counterparty and settlement risk, decreasing capital requirements and enabling instant value transfer.”