Finally, some good news from JPMorgan! The Wall Street bank’s head of blockchain has said that he sees the potential with cryptocurrency, but that it needs ‘some evolution.’
Speaking at Yahoo Finance’s All Market Summit, Umar Farooq, JPMorgan’s head of blockchain, said that he wouldn’t go as far as to say that digital currencies are ‘bad,’ reports Yahoo Finance, adding:
I would say cryptocurrencies have issues. I think we need to figure out how those issues get solved.
During his talk, Farooq expressed the view that there are a lot of positives with the cryptocurrency market. However, concerns remain. One of which relates to money laundering. According to Farooq, regulators and the banking industry realise the potential digital currencies have, but they need to know who the customer is.
Notably, he said:
We think cryptocurrencies need some evolution.
These comments from the bank’s head of blockchain are in stark contrast to its CEO. Jamie Dimon, the chief of JPMorgan, has been known to express his negative view about the cryptocurrency market. In September, Dimon famously called bitcoin ‘a fraud’ and that it was ‘worth nothing,’ claiming that any employee found trading in it would be fired.
Interestingly, at the beginning of 2018, he said during an interview on Fox Business that he ‘regretted‘ making those comments about the cryptocurrency. However, while Dimon may have different opinions on the digital currency to others he is fully behind the blockchain.
In partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, JPMorgan launched a new payment processing network that uses the blockchain technology. Known as the Interbank Information Network (IIN), it will enable payments to reach recipients faster with less steps and increased security.
In a report from Reuters in October, Emma Loftus, head of global payments and foreign exchange at JPMorgan Treasury Services, explained:
Blockchain capabilities have allowed us to rethink how critical information can be sourced and exchanged between global banks.
Featured image from Shutterstock.