The Central Bank of Bahrain has teamed up with JP Morgan's blockchain and crypto unit Onyx to test the Wall Street giant's JPM Coin digital currency.
The test saw Bahrain's Bank ABC initiate real-time payments for Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) with its counterparties in the US using the JPM Coin system. The system serves as a payment rail and deposit account ledger, enabling participating entities to transfer US Dollars held on deposit with JP Morgan.
Rasheed Al Maraj, governor, Central Bank of Bahrain, says: "Through our work with ALBA, Bank ABC and Onyx by JP Morgan, we aspire to address and eliminate the inefficiencies and pain-points which exist today in the traditional cross-border payments arena."
JP Morgan created the JPM Coin digital token in 2019 to enable the instant settlement of transactions between the bank's wholesale payments business clients. Last year, the bank began offering the coin to clients for use commercially.
Ali Moosa, senior country officer, JP Morgan Bahrain says: "The completed test with Alba and Bank ABC will help inform further development of JPM Coin Systems for future use by our correspondent banking partners."