JPMorgan has begun a trial project to test the use of blockchain technology in its loan trading operations, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The bank is working with Digital Asset Holdings, the firm set up by its former head of commodities Blythe Masters, to address liquidity matches in its loan funds.
JPMorgan was one a of a group of top banks to join a $50 million funding round in Digital Asset Holdings last month. The startup is attempting to build a portfolio of blockchain-related financial services products aimed at improving efficiency, security, compliance and settlement speed. The bank is also involved in the bank-backed consortium effort run by R3 CEV and the Linux Foundation's Open Ledger Project.
Daniel Pinto, head of JPMorgan's investment bank, and a widely-touted successor to CEO Jamie Dimon, told the FT that loans were a good place to start trialing blockchain technology, because “the settlement process is complex with lots of manual intervention and multiple parties”.
“Blockchain will be big in everything related to settlement, and not just loans," he continued. "While it is still early days, the technology looks very good."