J.P. Morgan harnesses blockchain for debt issuance amid digital asset adoption boost

By Pritam Biswas and Anirban Sen

Dec 11 (Reuters) - J.P. Morgan JPM.N arranged a short-term bond for Galaxy Digital Holdings on the Solana blockchain, the bank said on Thursday, marking a significant step in the broader institutional adoption of digital assets.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global COIN.O and investment management firm Franklin Templeton purchased the commercial paper, a short-term and unsecured debt instrument.

The $50 million debt deal comes at a time when tokenization is rapidly increasing, especially in the U.S., helped by the passage of new regulations . President Donald Trump's administration has eased regulation of the broader crypto industry, paving the way for a boom in the valuation of companies in the sector and the rapid growth of crypto-related securities.

The deal is among the earliest that uses blockchain for the issue and service of securities, and comes as traditional finance begins to intersect with the new technology. Blockchain platforms, such as Solana, which was founded in 2017 and launched its mainnet three years later, have seen a keen interest from the legacy finance institutions due to their high speed and low transaction costs.

"In the first half of next year, we intend to build on this momentum by exploring how this structure and J.P. Morgan's role in it can be expanded, not just in terms of the investor and issuer base but also security type," said Scott Lucas, head of Markets Digital Assets at J.P. Morgan, in an interview with Reuters.

"We're confident there is strong demand for this type of innovation, and we're committed to supporting our clients and the market as we move forward."

Prior issuances on J.P. Morgan's private, permissioned blockchain platform include a municipal securities offering for the City of Quincy in April 2024 and a U.S. commercial paper issuance for Oversea‑Chinese Banking Corporation in August 2025.

J.P. Morgan acted as the arranger in the deal and created the on-chain USCP token. Both the issuance and redemption proceeds will be paid in USDC, a stablecoin issued by Circle CRCL.N.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to track the value of a real‑world currency, typically the U.S. dollar.