International banking giant and longtime Bitcoin detractor JP Morgan has launched its own cryptocurrency. Dubbed ‘JPM Coin’, it is the first such digital asset to be backed by a US bank.

No, it isn’t April Fool’s Day, and no, you didn’t wake up in Bizarro World. In a wholly ironic and unexpected move, JP Morgan announced this morning that it has launched its own cryptocurrency, JPM Coin, which will be used by the financial services company to instantly settle transactions.

In trials set to begin in just a few months, JPM Coin – which is pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar – will be used to settle “a tiny fraction” of the estimated $6 trillion in payments that JP Morgan handles for its corporate clients every day.

JP Morgan on Crypto: Applications are ‘Endless’

In an interview with CNBC earlier today, Umar Farooq, head of JP Morgan’s blockchain projects, spoke enthusiastically about the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology:

So anything that currently exists in the world, as that moves onto the blockchain, this would be the payment leg for that transaction. […] The applications are frankly quite endless; anything where you have a distributed ledger which involves corporations or institutions can use this.

Ferooq’s enthusiasm is in stark contrast to that of JP Morgan’s CEO and notorious cryptocurrency skeptic Jamie Dimon, who has repeatedly denounced Bitcoin as a fraud in the past and has even gone so far as to label those who have invested in the popular cryptocurrency as “stupid”.

The Crypto Market – and Community – Reacts

Despite JP Morgan’s announcement being big news in the crypto community, it has had surprisingly little effect on the cryptocurrency market so far.

At press time, the total crypto market cap sits at $120.32 billion – a 2% decrease from its $120.35 billion valuation just prior to the announcement. As for Bitcoin, it is currently trading at $3,616.39 – also a 2% decrease over the same time frame.

The news, understandably, has spread through the crypto community like wildfire. JP Morgan and JPM Coin are trending on Twitter, where reactions have run the gamut:

THIS IS BIG! "The first bullet in any war is always the most important, and it looks like this could be the first move in a broader adoption of blockchain and digital currencies by large institutions.” By Michelle Davis and Alastair Marshhttps://t.co/XO2hI3CQlc — Mounia Rabhi, MSc. 🇳🇱 🇲🇦 (@Mounia_NL) February 14, 2019

2017: labels bitcoin ’a fraud’ 2019: launches their own shitcoin@jpmorgan — Zissou™ (@ZeusZissou) February 14, 2019

On a serious note: I think the JP Morgan thing is long term a positive thing for Bitcoin. Let them play around with their stablecoin, once we get more mainstream the "cryptocurrency infrastructure" already sort of exists. — WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) February 14, 2019

One of the weirder Twitter posts on the matter comes from Mister But-I-Am-the-Real-Satoshi-I-Swear himself, Craig Wright, who appears to be exerting prior claim to JP Morgan’s blockchain-based settlement system:

https://twitter.com/ProfFaustus/status/1096018468858667008

Good luck with that, Craig.

What do you think of JP Morgan launching its own crypto? What effect will it have on cryptocurrency adoption in the short and long term? Let us know in the comments below.

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