‘Crypto is Real’: JPMorgan Embraces Digital Currency with Tokenized Private Equity Fund

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase has tokenized a private-equity fund on its Kinexys blockchain platform.
• The first transaction using the new Kinexys Fund Flow system involved multiple parties including JPMorgan Asset Management and fund administrator Citco.

JPMorgan Chase has digitized a private-equity fund using its Kinexys blockchain platform. This offering is now accessible to affluent clients through its private banking services. The development was made public last Thursday.

The inaugural live transaction on the new Kinexys Fund Flow system involved JPMorgan Asset Management, the Private Bank, and Kinexys Digital Assets, as well as fund administrator Citco. This transaction was carried out on the bank’s exclusive, permissioned blockchain network.

First Successful Transaction

The Kinexys Fund Flow platform digitizes investor records. It employs smart contracts to automate the transfer of funds between JPMorgan brokerage accounts and fund managers. This system supersedes manual reconciliations and wire transfers, which are currently prevalent in private-fund operations.

JPMorgan anticipates a wider deployment of the Kinexys Fund Flow in early 2026, with more features being introduced throughout the year. Citco voiced that this technology could minimize errors and costs across the industry. JPMorgan also characterized it as an initiative to modernize the distribution and servicing of alternative assets.

Modernizing Private Fund Operations

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon addressed the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh on October 28. He stated that “crypto is real” and that smart contracts would be used to facilitate more efficient transactions and improved customer service. This marks a shift from his previous skepticism towards digital currencies.

This development follows President Trump’s signing of the Genesis Act earlier this summer, which established a regulatory framework for stablecoins. In July, Goldman Sachs and the Bank of New York Mellon announced their collaboration to launch digital tokens for money market funds.

JPMorgan launched its on-chain intraday repo solution through Kinexys in August. The bank had previously developed JPM Coin in 2019 and launched its Onyx blockchain unit in 2020, now integrated under Kinexys.

The bank recently revealed plans to use Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as collateral for institutional loans. It also launched a proof-of-concept for a deposit token on Base. These developments occur as competitors, including a partnership between Citi and Coinbase , strive to bridge traditional banking and blockchain finance.