Multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase has had a chequered relationship with cryptocurrencies over the years. While it has maintained an apparent apathy toward Bitcoin and the likes, the financial institution has openly embraced blockchain technology and is actively using it in various internal projects. This has come to the fore in August 2018, as chief information officer Lori Beer made a bold statement in an interview, claiming that blockchain technology ‘will replace’ existing financial systems in the next few years. Beer’s sentiments come at an interesting time, especially considering JPMorgan’s yin-and-yang attitude towards decentralized ledger technology (DLT). Blockchain technology underpins …

JP Morgan CIO Lori Beer said at a press conference in Buenos Aires that blockchain will “replace existing technology” in a few years, according to Argentinian website Cripto247 August 23. “We will see a greater and wider use of blockchain [...] In a few years blockchain will replace the existing technology, today it only coexists with the current one,” Beer said. Beer explained to Cripto247 that JP Morgan uses blockchain technology to “simplify the payment process and to store customers’ information related to KYC (Know Your Customer) policy.” She added that blockchain technology helps to prevent money laundering. Beer further …

The Bank of Montreal and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have tested a Canadian-dollar debt deal using blockchain, Bloomberg reports August 15. In the pilot transaction, the bank is said to have sold $250 million Canadian dollars (around $190 million) of one-year floating rate deposit notes to the teachers’ pension fund, implementing blockchain tech to mirror the transaction. This is reportedly the first use of the technology for a Canadian dollar “fixed-income issue.” Bloomberg notes that the Bank of Montreal’s BMO Capital Markets unit has built a prototype blockchain-based settlement system, which enables issuers and buyers to track transactions using the …

Enterprise-focused blockchain startup Axoni has raised $32 million in a funding round led by Goldman Sachs and other high-profile banks and venture capital investors, Forbes reports August 14. The $32 million Series B funding round was led by Goldman Sachs and Nyca Partners, with numerous other investors including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Andreessen Horowitz. The fresh investment brings Axoni’s total financing to $55 million to date. Axoni’s co-founder, Greg Schvey, told Forbes that the round represented not just an injection of capital but a “deep strategic” alliance, given that many of the investors are themselves innovating the traditional financial …

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon returned to his more critical comments about Bitcoin, calling the cryptocurrency a “scam” and saying he had “no interest” in it, Bloomberg reported Sunday, August 5. Dimon was speaking at the Aspen Institute’s 25th Annual Summer Celebration Gala on Saturday, including cryptocurrency as part of general comments he made about the U.S. economic outlook. His words were soon repeated in both the mainstream press and online by prominent economic sources, notably Nouriel Roubini, who has also become known this year for his critical stance on Bitcoin. According to Bloomberg, Dimon further “suggested governments may move to …

JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon was bullish on blockchain tech, but shied away from commenting on cryptocurrency, saying fiat payment apps are “the biggest potential disruption to our business” in an interview published in the July-August issue of the Harvard Business Review. When asked about his company’s chief competitive threat, Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase — the largest of America’s Big Four banks — singled out what he called “new forms of payment.” Specifically naming PayPal, Venmo and Alipay, Dimon said that “these companies are doing a good job of embedding basic banking services in their chats, their social, …

Following a breakout year for cryptocurrencies, 2018 has been extremely challenging — to say the least. With Bitcoin and numerous altcoins hitting all time highs in December, a sobering market correction followed and the markets have only started to settle midway through this year. There have been many reasons for the cryptocurrency markets being battered by bearish sentiments across the board. However, having passed the midway mark of the year, there are increasingly encouraging signs that institutional investors are changing their tune once again — hinting that mainstream adoption is around the corner. Furthermore, Bitcoin has reached market cap levels …

Multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley has hired a self-described crypto trading expert and 12-year veteran of Credit Suisse as its new head of digital asset markets, eFinancialCareers reported July 31. The new appointment, Andrew Peel, spent his last three years at Credit Suisse as vice president of sales and trading innovation, in which role he acted as “trading subject matter expert for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies” according to his LinkedIn profile. His page also includes an independent position as “advocate of crypto markets” as of June 2013. Nabbing a crypto enthusiast for its team aligns with Morgan Stanley’s evolving stance towards …

Forex exchange (FX) settlement giant CLS is in the final stages of testing its blockchain payment service for banks, Financial News reported July 27. The service is reportedly set to be launched later this summer, with at least seven banks expected to sign on to the system in the early months. CLS, the New York-based global multi-currency cash settlement system, has been working with tech company IBM to introduce the blockchain-powered payment netting service. The system is set to be incorporated in banking IT systems to boost the level of standardization in the global FX markets, as well as reduce …

For the first time, Fortune has created a crypto-focused version of its prestigious “40 under 40” honor roll for the most impressive young disruptors in the finance and technology industry, published July 23. Dubbed “The Ledger 40 under 40,” the list is dedicated to innovators at the helm of the “financial revolution” ushered in by cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and other distributed ledger technologies. Last week, five crypto industry representatives had already clinched four spots on Fortune’s existing “40 under 40” — all of whom reappear in the inaugural Ledger list. These include the CEO of major U.S. crypto exchange and wallet …

The former vice president of North American investment banking at JPMorgan Chase has said that blockchain “may be the key to avoiding the next global financial crisis," the China Economic Times reports today, July 23. Pang Huadong, currently an honorary academic advisor of the Asian Blockchain Institute, said that his experience at JPMorgan during the peak of the 2008 financial crash led him to think that blockchain could be the pivotal technology for establishing transparency and trust in the global economic system: “[When I began to work at JPMorgan in 2007,] 13 people managed [the bank’s] $40+ billion [assets].... when …

Former Wall Street executive Mike Novogratz has recently predicted that mass adoption of crypto and blockchain is “still five to six years away,” Blokt blockchain and tech news outlet reports July 19. Speaking at the Beyond Blocks conference in South Korea, Novogratz, CEO and founder of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital, still expressed confidence that many institutions will come into the industry “in the next two to three years,” claiming that “without that, we will be running in circles.” However, the mass adoption of crypto and blockchain technology will come not earlier than in a half a decade, Novogratz added …