- JPM Coin will be used commercially for the first time this week by a large technology client sending payments globally, says Takis Georgakopoulos, JPMorgan's (NYSE:JPM) global head of wholesale payments.
- That's got the bank excited enough to launch Onyx, a unit to house its blockchain and digital currency endeavors, with more than 100 employees. It will be headed by Umar Farooq.
- "We are launching Onyx because we believe we are shifting to a period of commercialization of those technologies, moving from research and development to something that can become a real business," says Georgakopoulos.
- Bank CEO Jamie Dimon famously called Bitcoin (BTC-USD) a "fraud" in 2017, and threatened to fire any JPMorgan traders who got involved. He's since said he regretted those remarks, and that "the blockchain is real."
- Speaking of everyone's favorite crypto, it's up sharply again today a new multi-year high of $13.6K.
- Previously: Singapore's largest commercial bank launching crypto exchange (Oct. 27)