With JP Morgan, the largest bank in the USA enters the Metaverse. What is the company’s relationship with cryptocurrencies and what does the virtual branch look like?
JP Morgan’s ambivalent relationship with Bitcoin
Anyone who has followed the news over the past few months and years may have noticed JP Morgan’s aversion to cryptocurrencies. Given the fact that JP Morgan is a traditional bank, this generational conflict is of course nothing exceptional.
In truth, however, the bank’s relationship with cryptos is not so one-sided. The fact that this impression exists is mainly due to one person, namely James Dimon. Dimon is not only the chief executive, but also the chairman of the board of directors of the American bank.
Dimon has repeatedly made particularly nasty statements about Bitcoin. A long list of quotes includes statements such as:
Bitcoin is a scam. Worse than the Tulip Bubble.
In 2017, he even wanted to fire his bank employees who invest in Bitcoin because of this stupidity. In the meantime, Dimon rowed back and explained his statements as errors. Her daughter may be the source of this reaction. She acquired bitcoin for as little as $11.
Bitcoin is truly becoming a big thing.
According to the general manager meanwhile. In October, he took part in a discussion that discussed, among other things, the possible continued existence of bitcoin in a “shadow system” – a system in which bitcoin is officially banned by the state.
“Governments will stop bitcoin”
Dimon then explained:
It just doesn’t happen! you’re wasting your time When the Department of Justice declares Bitcoin illegal and says >> Bitcoin is against the law. If you do it again, we’ll put you in jail!<< then it's over! There is no problem. There will be no uncontrolled money in the world!
Because no government on earth would tolerate Bitcoin for long. But Dimon’s prophecy seems difficult to fulfill. Due to the decentralized nature of many cryptocurrencies, governments around the world should discourage individuals from doing what they do.
Marianna Lake, then JP Morgan’s chief financial officer and now the company’s vice president, tried to maintain a diplomatic stance.
She explained that JP Morgan is open to properly vetted and regulated digital assets. Which seems ironic at first, though, says Lake without malice. This can also be seen in JP Morgan’s involvement in the crypto space.
JP Morgan’s Crypto Presence Grows
The fact that JP Morgan as a company cannot have such a negative attitude towards digital currencies has already been proven in 2019. At that time, the bank even launched its own project called JP Morgan Coin (JPM).
JP Morgan Coin – digital currency from JPM
Although it is de facto a cryptocurrency, since a blockchain is used, there are otherwise few similarities with Bitcoin and others. The reason for its existence is to be able to process transfers faster.
But that’s not all. In the meantime, the bank has also opened its own branch in the Decentraland metaverse. The branch is very easy to get to. All you have to do is start Decentraland. The program also runs in the browser.
With Ethereum, Decentraland uses an uncontrolled and unregulated blockchain as a platform. When you enter the branch, you will immediately see glowing letters indicating that you are now in an Onyx location.
Under the Onyx logo you can also read that there is a relationship with JP Morgan. In fact, Onyx is a brand of the bank that only deals with blockchain technology and already offers its own network with Liink.
JP Morgan in Decentraland
Various videos can be viewed within the branch – for example from lectures or discussions in which related topics such as DeFi or cryptocurrencies in general are discussed.
A timeline shows the progress JP Morgan and Onyx have made in the crypto industry.
