The nation’s greatest financial institution has utilized for a trademark associated to digital foreign money with america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO). The transfer has led some to invest the appliance for “JPMD” displays the financial institution’s rising curiosity in stablecoins—a kind of cryptocurrency that’s designed to take care of a worth in keeping with the U.S. greenback.
The utility was filed by JPMorganChase on June 15, in response to the USPTO’s web site. The applying listed “JPMD” as a very good or service that would offer “trading, exchange, transfer and payment services for digital assets,” amongst different classes associated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain expertise.
Whereas the financial institution has not confirmed its intent to launch a brand new cryptocurrency, some X customers imagine that “JPMD” is a reference to an upcoming stablecoin providing. “Stablecoin by JPMorgan is incoming,” one consumer wrote in a put up on X. “$JPMD is the ticker.”
One other X consumer wrote, “ The world’s biggest bank embracing stablecoin is your sign to stay ultra bullish.”
The social media posts didn’t provide any extra proof concerning the financial institution’s plans, and JPMorganChase didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Fortune.
The hypothesis comes amid renewed curiosity in stablecoins as President Donald Trump embraces the trade. Various corporations have been exploring methods to implement stablecoins, which are sometimes used to settle cross-border transactions and to guard fiat-currencies from inflation, into their fee infrastructure.
In March, asset supervisor Constancy introduced that it was “actively testing” a stablecoin however had no plans to launch the product right now.
Final month, the Wall Road Journal reported that JPMorganChase was concerned in conversations with Financial institution of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and different industrial banks about probably issuing a joint stablecoin, citing individuals conversant in the matter.
Corporations outdoors of the world of finance are contemplating stablecoins, too. In Could, Fortune reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta was in talks with crypto corporations to combine stablecoins to handle payouts. Earlier this month, Fortune reported that along with Meta, Apple, X, AirBnB and Google have been all exploring using stablecoins.
Whether or not “JPMD” is a stablecoin or another sort of cryptocurrency, it’s not the financial institution’s first foray into the digital property area. JPMorgan launched JPM Coin, a cryptocurrency used for the financial institution’s wholesale funds enterprise, in 2019. The corporate introduced in 2023 that JPM Coin was dealing with $1 billion of transactions each day.
Till lately, JPMorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon has been a staunch critic of the crypto trade. In 2021, Dimon known as Bitcoin, the preferred cryptocurrency, “worthless.” In 2023, he informed Congress that the one true use case for crypto is for “criminals, drug traffickers…cash laundering, tax avoidance.”
Nonetheless, because the regulatory atmosphere within the U.S. warms to the thought of digital property, Dimon has modified his tune. Final month, Dimon introduced that JPMorganChase would permit purchasers to purchase Bitcoin however wouldn’t custody it.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com