In November 2024, J.P. Morgan executed a strategic rebrand of its blockchain division, transforming Onyx into Kinexys: a name derived from "kinetic" that signals the platform's focus on the rapid movement of money, assets, and financial information across global markets. The rebrand marks more than a cosmetic change; it represents the world's largest bank's accelerating commitment to blockchain infrastructure and the tokenization of traditional financial assets.

Since processing its first transactions in 2020, the platform has facilitated over $1.5 trillion in notional value, averaging more than $2 billion in daily transactions. With payment volumes growing tenfold year-over-year and a roster of global clients including Siemens, BlackRock, and Ant International, Kinexys has emerged as the institutional finance sector's most established blockchain-based payment infrastructure.

The Genesis: From JPM Coin to Onyx to Kinexys

J.P. Morgan's blockchain journey began in February 2019 with the announcement of JPM Coin, making it the first major U.S. bank to create a digital token for wholesale payments. The initiative emerged from a fundamental challenge: traditional financial infrastructure, built on systems that are decades old, struggles to meet the demands of a 24/7 global economy where capital needs to move instantly across borders and time zones.

JPM Coin was designed as a dollar-backed digital token to instantly settle transactions between clients of J.P. Morgan's wholesale payments business, addressing inefficiencies in traditional payment rails where cross-border transfers could take days to settle and were constrained by banking hours and cut-off times.

By 2020, J.P. Morgan consolidated its blockchain initiatives under the Onyx brand, introducing the platform to expand blockchain-based settlement and wholesale payment capabilities. The Onyx division brought together various distributed ledger technology projects, creating a unified blockchain business unit focused on solving real-world financial services problems.

In November 2024, at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Umar Farooq, co-head of J.P. Morgan Payments, announced that Onyx would become Kinexys by J.P. Morgan. The rebranding reflected the platform's maturation and expanding scope. The name Kinexys combines the concepts of "kinetic" and "connection," signifying J.P. Morgan's focus on speed, efficiency, and connectivity in the movement of money, assets, and information across borders.

Core Product Suite: Three Pillars of Blockchain Infrastructure

Kinexys operates through three primary divisions, each addressing distinct aspects of blockchain-based financial infrastructure:

Kinexys Digital Payments (Formerly JPM Coin)

Kinexys Digital Payments is a permissioned blockchain system that functions as a payment rail and deposit account ledger, allowing participating J.P. Morgan clients to transfer funds held on deposit with J.P. Morgan. The platform enables clients to open Blockchain Deposit Accounts (BDAs) that operate alongside traditional demand deposit accounts.

The system's primary value propositions include:

• 24/7/365 Operations: Unlike traditional banking infrastructure that operates within business hours, Kinexys Digital Payments enables round-the-clock fund transfers, including weekends and banking holidays
• Near Real-Time Settlement: Cross-border payments that traditionally take days can settle in seconds
• Programmable Payments: Automated payment flows based on pre-determined conditions, enabling sophisticated treasury management
• Multi-Currency Support: Initially supporting USD, EUR, and GBP, with plans to expand to additional currencies

Kinexys Digital Assets

The Digital Assets division focuses on asset tokenization: converting traditional financial instruments into digital tokens on blockchain infrastructure. Tyrone Lobban, who led the Kinexys Blockchain Launch and Kinexys Digital Assets, described the platform as one that could ultimately enable trillions of dollars of traditional assets to be brought into the broader blockchain ecosystem while providing an institutional scale Ethereum Virtual Machine-based chain compatible with DeFi innovation.

Key applications include:

• Tokenized Collateral Network (TCN): The TCN application allows participants to use traditional assets as collateral, enabling the transfer of tokenized ownership interests in Money Market Fund shares for the first time. This innovation addresses the financial industry's need for frictionless collateral transfer without the complexity of moving physical assets.
• Intraday Repo Transactions: Since Kinexys was established in 2020, the Kinexys Digital Assets platform has facilitated intraday repurchase, or repo, transactions to provide short-term borrowing in fixed income through the exchange of cash for tokenized collateral.

The platform has executed landmark transactions demonstrating blockchain's potential in traditional finance, including the first external EUR intraday and term repo trades with Banco Santander.

Kinexys Labs

Kinexys Labs serves as the innovation and experimentation arm, exploring emerging blockchain use cases and developing proof-of-concepts for next-generation financial infrastructure. The division helps explore and develop digital applications on a proven tokenization platform, delivering components needed to create scalable solutions and bringing digital use cases to life with distributed-ledger technology.

Recent initiatives include:

• Privacy and Identity Solutions: In November 2024, Kinexys Digital Assets and Kinexys Labs announced a proof-of-concept demonstrating on-chain privacy, identity and composability.
• IoT and Space Applications: In a groundbreaking project, J.P. Morgan tested the world's first bank-led tokenized value transfer in space, executed via smart contracts on a blockchain network established between satellites orbiting the earth. This initiative explored blockchain's potential for the expanding space economy, which is projected to grow from $350 billion to $1 trillion over the next two decades.

Kienxys’ Leadership and Vision

The success of Kinexys reflects strong leadership from executives who understand both traditional banking and emerging technology:

Umar Farooq served as CEO of Kinexys before becoming Co-Head of Global Payments at J.P. Morgan. His background includes Global Head of Digital Wholesale Payments and Head of Blockchain for the Corporate and Investment Bank, with previous leadership positions in Chase Bank. Farooq holds degrees in Computer Science and Economics from MIT, an M.Eng. in Computer Engineering from MIT, and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Naveen Mallela serves as Global Co-Head of Kinexys with direct responsibility for Kinexys Digital Payments and Kinexys Liink. He has been one of the founding members of Kinexys and builder of cornerstone products like Kinexys Digital Payments, JPM Deposit Token (JPMD) and Programmable Payments. Mallela holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and is a CFA Charter holder.

Kara Kennedy serves as Global Co-Head of Kinexys with responsibility for Kinexys Digital Assets and Kinexys Labs. She previously served as Head of Digital Asset Product for J.P. Morgan's Securities Services and led digital asset product management at BNY Mellon prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2021.

The division previously benefited from the leadership of Tyrone Lobban, who served as head of Kinexys Blockchain Launch and Kinexys Digital Assets before his passing in early 2025. During his 22-year tenure at J.P. Morgan, Lobban was instrumental in developing the platform's tokenization capabilities.

Client Adoption and Use Cases

Kinexys has already secured mandates from some of the world's largest corporations and financial institutions, demonstrating blockchain's readiness for institutional deployment:

Siemens: The German industrial giant has been a pioneer in blockchain treasury management. Siemens integrated Kinexys Digital Payments into its treasury management platform four years ago, becoming the first client to use Kinexys Digital Payments' blockchain deposit accounts to support its treasury department moving money between global subsidiaries 24/7. In 2023, Siemens became the first client to use programmable payments, and in 2025, it implemented on-chain FX swaps for USD to EUR transactions.

BlackRock: The world's largest asset manager uses Kinexys for efficient cross-border payments and asset settlement, leveraging the platform's ability to operate beyond traditional market hours.

Ant International: The global payments and financial services provider has adopted Kinexys for cross-border payment capabilities, benefiting from real-time settlement and reduced transaction costs.

B2C2: The digital asset market maker has successfully completed USD to EUR FX onchain settlement and plans to leverage Kinexys Digital Payments for USD, EUR and GBP FX payments, enhancing services for institutional clients with faster and more secure delivery of OTC derivatives.

Additional clients include POSCO International, Qatar National Bank, the London Stock Exchange, and Mastercard, representing a diverse cross-section of global finance and industry.

The Strategic Rationale: Why Blockchain Matters for Institutional Finance

J.P. Morgan's sustained investment in blockchain infrastructure addresses fundamental inefficiencies in traditional financial systems:

Settlement Delays: Traditional cross-border payments can take multiple days to settle, tying up capital and creating counterparty risk. Traditional settlement windows can take days, tying up capital, amplifying risk exposure and creating operational bottlenecks for institutions moving billions across the globe. Blockchain enables near-instantaneous settlement, freeing up capital and reducing risk.

Operating Hour Constraints: Legacy financial infrastructure operates within business hours and respects banking holidays. Global businesses, however, operate continuously. Analysts estimate that financial infrastructure is at least five decades old, while we live in a digital world requiring modern solutions. Kinexys's 24/7/365 operation thereby aligns financial infrastructure with business reality.

Transaction Costs: Traditional payment rails involve multiple intermediaries, each extracting fees. Blockchain's peer-to-peer architecture reduces intermediation, enabling payments anywhere in the world for a fraction of a penny while reducing friction in cross-border transactions and boosting liquidity.

Liquidity Optimization: Companies struggle to optimize liquidity across global subsidiaries due to time zone differences and settlement delays. Programmable payments on blockchain enable automated, condition-based fund movements that maximize capital efficiency.

Kinexys: Scale and Performance Metrics

The platform's transaction volumes demonstrate blockchain's viability for institutional-scale operations:

• Cumulative Volume: Over $1.5 trillion in transactions processed since 2020
• Daily Volume: Averaging more than $2 billion per day in 2024
• Growth Rate: Payment transaction volumes increased 1,000% year-over-year
• Global Reach: Clients across five continents use the platform

While these figures represent a small fraction of J.P. Morgan's overall payment flows (the bank processes approximately $10 trillion in conventional payments daily), they demonstrate significant growth and institutional confidence in blockchain infrastructure.

Recent Developments and Future Roadmap

JPM Coin on a Public Blockchain

In November 2025, J.P. Morgan made a significant strategic shift by launching JPM Coin (ticker: JPMD) on Coinbase's Base public blockchain.

This represents a departure from the permissioned blockchain approach that characterized earlier initiatives. While the original JPM Coin operated in a "walled garden" of vetted institutions, JPMD now unlocks broader interoperability with public DeFi ecosystems, allowing seamless on-chain interactions without sacrificing regulatory compliance.

The token differs from traditional stablecoins in key respects: Deposit tokens differ from stablecoins in key areas, including interest payouts and deposit treatment, with clients able to regard deposit tokens on their balance sheet with the same considerations typically applied to other deposit products.

Expanded Foreign Exchange Capabilities

The integration of on-chain FX settlement represents one of Kinexys's most significant enhancements. Expected to have begun in Q1 2025, clients can execute foreign exchange transactions and settlements in near real-time, initially for USD and EUR pairs with expansion to other currency pairs planned. This capability addresses a major pain point in international business, where FX settlement typically involves T+2 settlement cycles and exposes parties to currency fluctuation risk during the settlement window.

Privacy and Identity Infrastructure

The November 2024 proof-of-concept on privacy, identity, and composability addresses critical challenges for institutional blockchain adoption. Financial institutions require robust know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance while maintaining client privacy. The Kinexys team developed a Verifiable Credential Digital Identity solution ensuring participants only transact with authorized, known parties on public blockchain without reinventing existing KYC processes.

Industry Context and Competitive Landscape

Kinexys operates in a rapidly evolving landscape where traditional financial institutions (and even governments) increasingly embrace blockchain technology:

• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Central banks worldwide are exploring or piloting digital currencies, potentially creating new interoperability requirements for platforms like Kinexys.
• Competitor Initiatives: Citigroup, Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, and other major banks have launched similar tokenized deposit and blockchain payment initiatives.
• Regulatory Environment: The regulatory framework for digital assets continues to evolve, with institutions awaiting clearer guidance on tokenized asset classification and treatment.
• Interoperability Efforts: Industry initiatives like the Regulated Settlement Network aim to create frameworks enabling different blockchain platforms to interoperate.

J.P. Morgan's early entry and sustained investment position Kinexys as a potential standard-setter in this emerging infrastructure layer, despite innovation happening elsewhere.

Kinexys’ Technical Foundation

The use of Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible infrastructure enables potential interoperability with the broader blockchain ecosystem while maintaining the permissioning and privacy controls required for institutional finance.

The platform's architecture enables:

• Permissioned Access: Only vetted institutional clients can participate, ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Privacy Preservation: Transaction details remain confidential to participants while maintaining audit trails.
• Programmability: Smart contracts enable automated execution of complex financial workflows.
• Scalability: The infrastructure supports billions of dollars in daily transaction volume with near-instantaneous settlement.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite its impressive progress, Kinexys faces several ongoing challenges:

Regulatory Uncertainty: The regulatory treatment of tokenized assets, digital deposits, and blockchain-based financial products continues to evolve, creating potential compliance complexity.

Network Effects: The platform's value increases with client adoption, requiring critical mass to create liquid markets and maximize utility.

Interoperability: While J.P. Morgan's scale provides significant reach, true industry transformation requires interoperability with other financial institutions' blockchain initiatives.

Technical Complexity: Integrating blockchain infrastructure with legacy banking systems requires significant technical investment and is accompanied by a host of often unforeseen complexities.

Competitive Positioning: As more financial institutions launch blockchain initiatives, Kinexys must continue innovating to maintain its early-mover advantage.

Conclusion

Kinexys represents J.P. Morgan's bet that blockchain technology will fundamentally transform institutional finance infrastructure. From its origins as JPM Coin in 2019 through the Onyx era and now as Kinexys, the platform has evolved from an experimental initiative into a production system processing billions of dollars daily for major global corporations and financial institutions.

The platform's value proposition (24/7/365 settlement, programmable payments, asset tokenization, and reduced friction in cross-border transactions) addresses real pain points in traditional financial infrastructure. With over $1.5 trillion in cumulative transactions, 1,000% year-over-year growth, and clients including Siemens, BlackRock, and Ant International, Kinexys has demonstrated blockchain's readiness for institutional-scale deployment.

As the platform expands its capabilities with on-chain FX settlement, moves onto public blockchain infrastructure with JPMD, and develops advanced privacy and identity solutions, it positions J.P. Morgan at the forefront of financial services transformation. Whether Kinexys becomes the dominant blockchain infrastructure for institutional finance or one of several competing platforms, its success to date validates blockchain's potential to modernize the decades-old systems that underpin global finance.

For financial institutions, corporations, and fintech companies seeking to understand blockchain's role in traditional finance, Kinexys provides a practical case study in how distributed ledger technology can address longstanding inefficiencies while maintaining the regulatory compliance, security, and reliability that institutional clients require.

Sources

• J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys Official Website
• J.P. Morgan: Introducing Kinexys
• J.P. Morgan: About Kinexys: Our Story, Leadership and More
• J.P. Morgan: Blockchain Asset Tokenization with Kinexys
• J.P. Morgan: Kinexys by J.P. Morgan launches blockchain in space
• J.P. Morgan Developer Portal: Kinexys Digital Payments
• CoinDesk: JPMorgan Renames Blockchain Platform to Kinexys
• CNBC: JP Morgan is rolling out the first US bank-backed cryptocurrency
• J.P. Morgan: Kinexys Labs
• J.P. Morgan: Institutional DeFi: The next generation of finance?
• Ledger Insights: J.P. Morgan’s JPM Coin deposit token goes live on public blockchain Base
• Payments Journal: JPMorgan to Rebrand and Expand its Blockchain and Tokenization Platform
• Bastion: Why JPMorgan Started Kinexys: The Case for Blockchain in Institutional Settlements
• CoinGeek: Liechtenstein’s national blockchain; Siemens taps JPMorgan’s Kinexys
• J.P. Morgan: Two more mandates further establish Kinexys by J.P. Morgan as a leader in onchain FX blockchain payments‍
• Markets Media: Banco Santander Executes First Euro Repos on Kinexys Digital Assets

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