As organizations increasingly consider branded stablecoins, a recent JPMorgan Chase trademark application has sparked speculation that the bank is preparing for a potential stablecoin launch.

A Bid for Protection

The document filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeks to trademark JPMD, which could stand for JPMorgan Dollar. According to the application, the bank aims to use this trademark in crypto and digital asset services such as trading, transfers, and payment processing.

Despite JPMorgan Chase’s lack of official confirmation, many in the cryptocurrency industry interpret the filing as an indication that a stablecoin is likely on the horizon for the largest American bank.

A Pioneering Player

This move isn’t surprising. JPMorgan Chase has been an early adopter and advocate of digital assets technologies. The institution launched one of the world’s first bank-operated blockchains, Onyx, which was later rebranded to Kinexys to integrate blockchain and tokenization into mainstream financial services.

One of the initial uses of Kinexys was JPM Coin—a cryptocurrency used by banks for foreign exchange conversions on the blockchain. One early use case was facilitating USD to euro conversions.

More recently, Kinexys signed a deal with India’s Axis Bank to enable real-time USD payments both domestically and internationally.

Joint Ventures or Solo Efforts?

JPMorgan’s focus on stablecoins isn’t without recent questions. Reports from The Wall Street Journal suggested that JPMorgan, along with Citi, Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, was considering a joint stablecoin venture.

Whether the bank decides to proceed alone or in partnership, it is clear that major financial institutions are moving toward stablecoins as they see significant opportunities in this market. Similarly, retailers like Walmart and Amazon have signaled their interest in branded stablecoins.

This development raises concerns that stablecoin payments could reduce volume in traditional financial systems, prompting banks to pursue their own stablecoin initiatives.