The Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan is weighing launching its own stablecoin, as more than a dozen major banks explore a global stablecoin consortium, building on Tuesday's momentum when thousands of smaller banks announced the formation of the BankChain Alliance, an industry-owned blockchain network targeting a 2027 launch.
• JPMorgan's Shift: JPMorgan's potential stablecoin would sit alongside JPM Coin, its existing tokenized deposit product. Unlike tokenized deposits, which remain tied to money held at a specific bank, stablecoins can move more freely across wallets, apps, exchanges, and blockchains, suggesting JPMorgan sees a use case for both.
• Not Open USD: The major-bank consortium discussed by the WSJ appears to be separate from Open USD, the 140+ member stablecoin network announced in June with Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, BlackRock, Coinbase, Google and banks including BNY and U.S. Bank. Neither Bank of America nor Wells Fargo was among Open USD's announced partners, making their participation in another bank-led stablecoin effort particularly notable.
• Smaller Banks Build Too: BankChain Alliance plans to give smaller banks shared blockchain infrastructure supporting stablecoins, tokenized deposits, smart payments, and automated settlement, allowing them to compete with the "onchain-ification" of payments and deposits.