JPMorgan completes first-ever transaction settlement on public ledger

Wall Street banking giant JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) has announced the execution of its first transaction settlement outside its private system in partnership with cryptocurrency entities Chainlink (LINK) and Ondo. The pilot transaction, conducted through its Kinexys Digital Payments platform, involved tokenized U.S. Treasuries and was settled on Ondo Chain’s testnet, according to a May 14 press release. This transaction marks the debut of a Delivery versus Payment (DvP) model, which synchronizes payment and asset transfers to reduce counterparty risk and settlement delays. The deal utilized Kinexys, JPMorgan’s blockchain division, to handle the payment leg, while the asset side consisted of Ondo Finance’s tokenized short-term Treasury fund (OUSG). These blockchain-based treasuries are designed to offer exposure to U.S. government debt with the benefits of real-time, transparent settlement. Kinexys, which reportedly processes over $2 billion in daily transaction volume, connected its private network to the public Ondo Chain, a notable shift from the bank’s historically closed-network approach. At the same time, Chainlink’s secure cross-chain orchestration infrastructure, known as the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE), facilitated the atomic, cross-network settlement. CRE coordinated the transfer across the permissioned Kinexys system and the public Ondo Chain, ensuring real-time finality, enhanced liquidity, and reduced counterparty risk. “It is becoming increasingly clear to the world’s institutions that they have a large addressable market in the public chain community and that they need a reliable set of technical standards and cross-chain connection capabilities to successfully transact in this new world,” said Sergey Nazarov, Chainlink co-founder. JPMorgan blockchain ventures It’s worth noting that this early May transaction is not JPMorgan’s first venture beyond its private network. The entity has previously tested blockchain integrations, including a 2024 pilot with Siemens Digital. This shift by the banking giant comes as the United States moves toward more favorable cryptocurrency regulations following President Donald Trump’s election. Nelli Zaltsman, head of platform settlement solutions at Kinexys, emphasized that this new venture was not driven by political changes or investors’ recent enthusiasm for crypto. Instead, it’s part of the bank’s strategic roadmap. While the bank’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, has been a vocal Bitcoin critic, he has acknowledged that blockchain technology can find use cases in the financial sector. Featured image via Shutterstock Source: https://finbold.com/jpmorgan-completes-first-ever-transaction-settlement-on-public-ledger/