The banks are diving deep into blockchain and crypto.
This is something we have discussed throughout much of 2025. It truly was the year of the banks getting involved in the industry. We saw an explosion in infrastructure as the banks rolled out developments that were years in the making.
Some of this will built atop of public (permissionless) blockchains such as Solana or Ethereum. We also see, as is the case with JPMorgan, the use of permissioned networks.
Legislation, especially in the United States, is being written. This is helping to guide the industry, with institutions becoming aware of what the ground rules are.
We talked about stablecoins and real world assets. This is pulling in household names, including JPMorgan. Led by Jamie Dimon, the bank is entering a realm where the CEO isnt even convinced of the merits to the entire industry.
That does not stop him from seeing the potential to profit.
The banks are still about control. We have to be careful with how we approach them. Wall Street is an easy animal to understand.
It is all about making money. That is the only thing that matters. Power is tied to the ability to "print" money. Political power is nothing more than a means to an end for bankers. It is a tool to make more money.
Therefore, we are dealing with some of the easiest creatures to understand. It is nothing more than filling the wallet.
Since the inception, banks have served as gatekeepers. They were always extractors from the system. That does not mean they were all inherently bad. I can tell you that without sound banking, a country is doomed. There is no economy of note.
Of course, banks go beyond the idea of sound. Unfortunately, they take excess to the nth degree. There is no limit to most of them. Greed is good as Gordan Gecko said. That is still the mantra on Wall Street.
It is not limited to there. We cannot say the crypto industry is any different. Look at how people behave within the industry. It is not about the technology. To most, it is nothing more than green candles. Pump my token. Few care if it is worthless as long as he or she can dump. Let someone else be stuck holding the bag.
Banker 101. It seems the crypto industry is turning everyone into bankers.
Jamie Dimon might be the top banker in the world right now. He heads up, perhaps, the most powerful bank. He is also a mainstay on Wall Street. His viewpoints are followed by many. When he speaks, the financial world does listen.
It is ironic that he is still, for the most part, anti-crypto. But, like a good banker, he will get involved if money is to be made. After all, it is still about the Benjamins (hundred dollar bills).
Banks like automation the same as every other business. They are looking at developing a platform that achieves this, resulting in a drop in costs.
JPMorgan has launched Kinexys Fund Flow, a blockchain-based platform that automates fund transactions and investor recordkeeping for alternative investment products.
This, naturally, should increase efficiency. That always helps the bottom line.
Kinexys Fund Flow, developed by JPMorgan's digital asset arm, aims to streamline capital distribution and servicing by providing fund managers, transfer agents, and distributors with a shared, real-time view of investor activity. It aims to eliminate the manual processes that slows down capital movement.
The platform tokenizes investor records and employs smart contracts to automatically transfer cash between JPMorgan brokerage accounts and fund managers. It is also built on the permissioned Kinexys network, which supports JPMorgan’s tokenized-deposit and payments products.
Notice how it is on the permissioned Kinexys network. This is something that you are not allowed to join. It is exclusive for the banks, offering up more exclusion.
Of course, this will help JPMorgan and its associated banking partners. If you own JPM stock, it might be good news to you. For the average person, this is of little help.
Nevertheless, it does exemplify the implementation of technology within the financial sector. We are looking at a massive upgrade in how things are done. Simply put, present finance, especially banking, is too slow. The internet, when coupled with AI, is moving rapidly. The banks cannot keep up.
Hence the turn to blockchain. Even within a persmissioned system, the smart contract capability automates tasks that are presently done by humans. This will help the bottom line of banks as those people are eliminated from the employment rolls. The narrative will be they will be reassigned by, as we see in Big Tech, layoffs tend to follow.
JPMorgan is going deeper into the blockchain and crypto world. We cannot presume they are the only bank doing this.
My guess is that, in 2026, the floodgates will open with platforms and networks rolled out by these institutions. By the end of that year, most of the banking industry will be involved.
