JPMorgan Files JPMD Trademark for Digital Asset Services

Banking giant JPMorgan may be considering launching a stablecoin of its own, according to a Sunday trademark filing.

The bank, which is also part of a coalition of major banks considering launching a stablecoin, filed a trademark application for JPMD, citing several dozen potential services to be offered under this trademark, starting with “Providing trading, exchange, transfer, and payment services for digital assets.”

But where it gets interesting is the second use case it imagines, which includes “Issuance of digital assets, namely, virtual currency, digital currency, digital tokens, payment tokens, decentralized application tokens, and blockchain enabled currency.”

It’s not hard to see that a public-facing stablecoin could easily fit under that second list of services.

The bank already has a private stablecoin, JPM Coin, used for near-immediate transactions between its institutional clients.

Banks Embrace Stablecoins

French banking giant Société Générale recently announced its intention to launch a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, USD ConVertible (USDCV), on both the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. It is partnering with Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as the reserve custodian.

It would be an EU-focused stablecoin, licensed under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law and not available to U.S. persons. USDCV is set to launch in July.

And Bank of America’s CEO revealed last month that the bank is considering launching a fully dollar-backed stablecoin of its own once regulations are in place.

The bigger coalition of U.S. banks, including JPMorgan’s parent company JPMorgan Chase, as well as Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, is exploring a stablecoin “intended to fend off escalating competition from the cryptocurrency industry,” the Wall Street Journal reported in May.