Marcus Swanepoel, CEO and Co-Founder of cryptocurrency exchange Luno gives comments on the launch of JP Morgan’s JPM Coin and what it means for the cryptocurrency market as a whole…

The announcement of JPM Coin has had little impact on the market because if you look under the hood, it’s not really a cryptocurrency. In reality, it’s a closed loop system that only JP Morgan uses, and only for their clients, as you need permission from JP Morgan to use its coin. Whereas, a genuine cryptocurrency is accessible to everyone. By running JMP coin solely on blockchain network Quorum, JP Morgan have ensured it will be used on a very small scale. 


However, if you look beyond this project over the next few months, some exciting things are emerging from people who have launched similar types of cryptocurrency. They are often referred to as stable coins, either backed by an existing currency like the US dollar, or a basket of currencies. When those things are offered to the market in a more open and decentralised manner that gets very interesting. So I wouldn’t say the JP Morgan coin is a big deal, however whilst it's not a proper crypto it's reminding everyone that this tech has so many unexplored possibilities.