JPMorgan rolls out GBP blockchain payments, extending EUR and USD offerings

JPMorgan's blockchain division, Kinexys (formerly Onyx), has rolled out British pound-denominated blockchain deposit accounts in the U.K., marking a key expansion of its real-time settlement infrastructure following earlier euro and dollar offerings.

"The new GBP-denominated blockchain accounts enable clients to conduct seamless cross-border transactions, including 24/7 foreign exchange," JPMorgan said in a statement shared with The Block on Monday. "Clients can access funds on demand with weekend processing and extended same-day FX settlements, offering enhanced flexibility, speed and efficiency."

With the GBP addition, JPMorgan's corporate clients can now move funds between pounds, euros and dollars around the clock — regardless of traditional market hours. The London Stock Exchange Group's (LSEG) SwapAgent and global commodities firm Trafigura are the first clients to open GBP accounts with Kinexys.

The launch comes as Kinexys continues to grow its blockchain-based services. Since its debut in 2019, the platform has processed more than $1.5 trillion in total transaction volume, with average daily activity exceeding $2 billion and payments volume growing tenfold year over year, JPMorgan said. That's still just a small fraction of the roughly $10 trillion in daily transactions that JPMorgan's payments division handles.

"This is one of the first blockchain offerings of its kind in the U.K. and the first to have clients actually live, opening GBP blockchain accounts in London," a JPMorgan spokesperson told The Block.

SwapAgent, LSEG's post-trade unit, is incorporating the GBP blockchain accounts into a pilot for its digital settlement services. "Integrating the innovative Kinexys Digital Payments blockchain deposit accounts into our SwapAgent offerings could allow us to operate beyond traditional branch cut-off times and manage settlements in a programmable manner in the future," Nathan Ondyak, CEO at SwapAgent, said in a statement.

Trafigura will use the GBP accounts to enable real-time payments across financial hubs in London, New York and Singapore. The firm also plans to adopt programmable payment tools to automate liquidity management and transaction execution. Kinexys' programmable payments feature allows clients to automate treasury actions through a self-serve "if-this-then-that" interface — designed to improve cash flow efficiency and control.