JPMorgan pushes JPMD pilot on Base, says deposit tokens beat stablecoins

JPMorgan Chase’s foray into the blockchain ecosystem continues, with the financial institution choosing the Base network to pilot its newly launched deposit token, JPMD. 

The pilot program was confirmed by Naveen Mallela, an executive at JPMorgan’s blockchain division, Kinexys, who told Bloomberg that a fixed amount of JPMD tokens will be transferred to crypto exchange Coinbase in the coming days.

The transfer will be facilitated through Coinbase’s layer-2 blockchain, Base, which launched in 2023 and currently has the largest market share among Ethereum layer-2s, according to CoinGecko. 

Mallela said the transaction will be denominated in US dollars, with additional currencies supported after regulatory approval is granted. 

Upon completion of the pilot phase, which is anticipated to span several months, Coinbase’s institutional clients will gain access to JPMD for transactions, according to Mallela.

Related: Base briefly nears 1,000 TPS, making it speed competitive with Solana

Deposit tokens are “superior” to stablecoins

The pilot testing was announced days after JPMorgan filed a trademark application for JPMD, which outlined a range of crypto-related services, including digital asset trading, transfers and payment processing.

Deposit tokens, specifically, represent dollar deposits held in customers’ bank accounts. Unlike stablecoins — digital representations of fiat currencies backed by cash and cash equivalents — deposit tokens operate within the traditional banking framework.

“From an institutional standpoint, deposit tokens are a superior alternative to stablecoins,” Mallela told Bloomberg, noting that their fractional reserve backing makes them more scalable.

The executive noted that JPMD could potentially pay interest in the future, setting it apart from most stablecoins, which typically do not generate yield.

However, yield-bearing stablecoins may gain momentum over time, with some industry insiders suggesting that the powerful US banking lobby is “panicking” over their potential to disrupt traditional financial models.

According to sources close to the banking lobby, New York University professor Austin Campbell said banking executives fear they will be “harmed” by the rise of yield-bearing stablecoins.