JP Morgan has announced plans to introduce instant settlement for foreign exchange (FX) conversions via its blockchain platform Kinexys, formerly Onyx, reports Bloomberg (paywalled). According to a separate report by Coindesk, the new capabilities will be introduced as early as the first quarter of 2025.
Conversions between the US dollar and euro will be made available first, followed by the pound sterling “once approvals are in place”. The development is expected to pave the way for automated, 24/7, near real-time multi-currency settlements. In comparison, traditional FX settlement ranges from same day to two days, depending on the currency pair.
The new capabilities will use JPM Coin, which already facilitates US dollar- and euro- denominated payments on Kinexys for participating institutions. Kinexys currently “processes more than US$2 billion of transactions daily”. It lays claim to fame as “one of the few examples of a digital ledger deployed at scale by a large bank”, but still “handles only a fraction of the US$10 billion moved by JP Morgan daily”.
Making connections
Coindesk quotes Umar Farooq, co-head of JP Morgan Payments: “We aim to move beyond the limitations of legacy technology and realise the promise of a multi-chain world. Our goal is to foster a more connected ecosystem to break down disparate systems, enable greater interoperability, and reduce the limitations of today’s financial infrastructure.”
