JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by assets with $4.1 trillion on its balance sheet, has expanded its blockchain and digital assets infrastructure through its Onyx platform. The platform now processes approximately $2 billion in daily transactions across its JPM Coin system, which enables institutional clients to transfer US dollars and euros on a permissioned blockchain for intraday repo transactions, cross-border payments, and securities settlement.
Custody Expansion
The bank now offers custody services for Bitcoin and Ethereum held by its institutional clients, a significant shift from CEO Jamie Dimon's previous scepticism toward cryptocurrency. The move follows regulatory clarity from the SEC and OCC that banks can custody digital assets without requiring additional capital charges under certain conditions. JPMorgan's custody operation complements its existing $31 trillion custody and fund services business.
The bank has also launched tokenised deposit services, where clients can represent their deposits as blockchain tokens for use in programmable payments and DeFi-like structured products through an institutional-grade, KYC-compliant framework. Citibank, HSBC, and Standard Chartered have launched similar programmes.
Blockchain Revenue
While JPMorgan does not break out Onyx revenue separately, analysts estimate the division generates approximately $200-300 million annually from transaction fees, licensing, and advisory services. The bank employs approximately 200 people in its blockchain division. Its Kinexys (formerly Onyx) digital payments platform has been adopted by major corporations including Siemens and FedEx for programmable treasury management.
Industry Context
JPMorgan's expansion reflects a broader trend of traditional financial institutions entering digital asset services. BNY Mellon, State Street, and Goldman Sachs have all launched or expanded digital asset custody. The total value of digital assets under institutional custody is estimated at approximately $500 billion globally, up from approximately $100 billion two years ago. For clients such as pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, having a regulated bank custodian is a prerequisite for cryptocurrency allocation.
For JPMorgan's blockchain initiatives, visit JPMorgan Onyx. For banking regulation updates, see Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.