Cryptocurrency: Jp Morgan Coin

 On the 14th of February 2019 (Valentine’s day to some of you), the tech community was enthralled to receive news of JP Morgan Chase’s official release of its digital currency, the JP Morgan coin. According to official report from the company, “JP Morgan Coin is designed for business-to-business money movement flows”, but is still in a testing phase which means that its not available to individuals at the moment.The American multinational investment bank introduced its JPM coin to work similarly as the Bitcoin. It was designed to speed up transactions between the bank’s customers. It uses US dollars as its primary trading currency which reduces its volatility. The JPM coin is the first major bank-affiliated digital coin to be introduced in America for global scale usage. What makes the JPM coin particularly interesting is that in 2017, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Mr. Jamie Dimon, publicly called Bitcoin a fraud which led to an 8% drop in its value. Fast forward a few years and the big shot CEO appears to have eaten his words. Although JPMorgan Chase has tried its hands with blockchain technology (with Quorum), JPM coin is worthy of note because it affirms the potential of blockchain technology in the global financial system. But what does JPM coin really mean for cryptocurrency? 

Understandably, many techies do not acknowledge JPM Coin as a cryptocurrency. However, its creation is a step in the right direction. In other for cryptocurrency to become a household name, blockchain technology would have to be adopted by traditional financial institutions, and the size and sheer influence of JP Morgan Chase makes it the best place to start. The adoption of blockchain technology with JPM coin can serve as a prime test sample for the technology on a global scale. According to the company, the coin, which at present is still in prototype stage, is slated to be tested with a “small number” of its clients. This “small” sample is a total of 27 million accounts! Whether or not the testing is successful, the data gathered will be monumental in the advancement of cryptography and blockchain in general. In addition, other companies will be able to assess and develop based on these research materials. The invention of JPM Coin is a win for cryptocurrency. While, Bitcoin, which was the subject of heavy criticism by JP Morgan’s CEO, will very likely not be directly affected by JPM coin, cryptocurrency trading in general will benefit it. Confidence in cryptocurrency as an alternative to traditional banking will be strengthened by JP Morgan’s affiliation to the technology. 

In summary, cryptocurrency benefits from the creation of JPM coin in three major ways: Validation of blockchain technology which most cryptocurrencies are built on Massive sample size for future testing and referencing Drives confidence in digital currencies JPM coin is great news for those who are into cryptocurrency or work with blockchain technology. Let’s all raise our glasses to the rise of a new era!