JPMorgan Chase, which is the largest bank in the United States, is considering to merge with Ethereum studio ConsenSys in regards to blockchain unit Quorum.
From a report done by Reuters on Feb 11, the merger is likely to be official in six months. The details of the deal remain anonymous.
JPMorgan has a private blockchain platform known as Quorum that is built using the Ethereum protocol. This is likely to influence the banking industry as a whole. The blockchain platform will help the finance industry as a whole, especially when it comes to the advancement of financial decentralized networks, and the development of financial tools using blockchain.
Quorum has about 25 employees who are still working on its development. It is based on the bank’s Interbank Information Network (IIN), which consists of a network of 320 banks that use the blockchain to share global payments data.
The platform is based on its own digital currency JPM Coin, which was first announced last year in February, though the coin is still yet to be released. JPMorgan coin is meant to facilitate interbank transfers. There are various options that the bank is working for the platform such as a merger, a completely new startup, or making a dedicated open-source foundation.
So far, the bank has chosen ConsenSys as its best option especially now that it is based on the Ethereum protocol.
Rumors have it that the expected merger with ConsenSys will not have any impact on IIN or the JPMorgan coin. With the options that the bank is trying to explore with Quorum, Merging seems to be the best choice at the moment.
There has been so much happening at ConsenSys that it is a matter of concern. For example, there have been many job cuts, and it is still going on. The firm says that it will cut its staff by 14% as it does a restructure to put a line between software development and venture activities.
Ethereum is the next big deal when it comes to decentralized finance (DeFi). So far, many startups are into DeFi applications. There is up to $1 billion that has been invested in DeFi. The move of JP Morgan embracing Ethereum for its blockchain is very strategic.
With JPMorgan taking the lead, there are many other banks and financial institutions that will follow suit. That will be a real finance revolution.
Image from https://www.flickr.com.
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