First Abu Dhabi Bank Completes Cross-Border Payments Pilot with JPMorgan Onyx

JPMorgan's Onyx Coin Systems Expands in the Middle East

JPMorgan's Onyx Coin Systems has achieved another milestone in the Middle East with the successful completion of a blockchain-based cross-border payments pilot project with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). The pilot phase was executed seamlessly, with satisfactory response times, according to a statement from FAB. This comes shortly after a similar test in Bahrain, where Bank ABC had been testing the Onyx system and proceeded to a limited launch of services. FAB expressed its ongoing interest in exploring the opportunities provided by the Onyx system.

Onyx Gains Momentum and Expands Globally

JPMorgan's permissioned distributed ledger, Onyx, was launched in 2020 and has been gaining momentum in recent months. The platform currently processes between $1 billion and $2 billion a day, according to Tyrone Lobban, JPMorgan Onyx Digital Assets & Blockchain head. In addition to its success in the Middle East, Onyx has been used for euro-denominated payments in Europe since June. It has also facilitated interbank USD settlements in India with a consortium of six banks. Furthermore, JPMorgan's new Tokenization Collateral Network, which runs on the Onyx blockchain, recently settled its first public trade involving money market fund shares tokenized and deposited at Barclays Bank as security for a derivatives exchange between JPMorgan and BlackRock.

Expansion of Blockchain and Tokenization Services

The adoption of blockchain technology and tokenization services is not limited to JPMorgan. Mastercard announced the testing of its Multi Token Network in June, and Citigroup introduced its Citi Token Services in September. These developments indicate the increasing interest and investment in blockchain-based solutions by major financial institutions.

JPMorgan's Participation in Project Guardian and CEO's Views on AI and Cryptocurrencies

JPMorgan was involved in Project Guardian, a project developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Bank for International Settlements. The project aimed to create a liquidity pool of tokenized bonds and deposits for lending and borrowing. In a separate context, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently expressed his strong belief in artificial intelligence while also criticizing cryptocurrencies as "decentralized Ponzi schemes."