Blockchain technology – once synonymous mainly with cryptocurrencies – is increasingly being adopted by major banks worldwide. After early skepticism, many banking giants are now integrating blockchain into their operations to improve efficiency and remain competitive.
Yellow.com begins a series of articles about the leading world banks adopting blockchain technologies.
We examine why each bank is investing in this technology, the use cases they have pursued (from instant payment networks to digital asset custody and tokenization of securities), and how these efforts position them for the future. Together, they illustrate how blockchain is beginning to reshape global banking and what the banking landscape of the coming “blockchain era” might look like.
In this article we will talk about the general terms and start with one of the banks.
What to Know:
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Global banks like JPMorgan, HSBC, and Citi are leading blockchain adoption through initiatives in real-time payments, asset tokenization, and digital custody.
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Blockchain in banking extends far beyond cryptocurrency, offering significant improvements in transaction speed, data security, and transparency.
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Expert forecasts suggest blockchain could reshape financial markets, enabling instant settlements, reduced costs, and increased market efficiency within the next decade.
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Regulatory clarity and interbank collaboration are key factors driving faster blockchain adoption across major financial institutions worldwide.
Banks and other financial firms have invested billions of dollars in exploring uses for blockchain, attracted by its promise of faster transactions and streamlined processes. Though the technology has yet to see widespread adoption in banking, proponents say it can make trading and record-keeping more efficient and transparent, far beyond its initial use in crypto markets. This shift comes as financial institutions recognize that blockchain’s distributed ledger can address long-standing pain points in banking.
Several factors are driving this momentum.
The high-profile volatility in crypto markets has paradoxically underscored the potential value of the underlying blockchain infrastructure in traditional finance. At the same time, regulators are gradually clarifying rules, making banks more comfortable engaging with digital assets. In the United States, for instance, regulators have moved to clear a path for banks to offer certain crypto services. In 2025 the FDIC announced that banks no longer need prior approval to engage in legally permitted crypto activities, so long as risks are managed. Such policy shifts, alongside growing client interest, have encouraged banks to move from small pilots to more concrete deployments of blockchain-based systems.
This trend is global. In Europe and Asia, banks have launched consortia and platforms to use blockchain for payments, trade finance, and securities settlement. Central banks are exploring their own digital currencies, further spurring commercial banks to innovate. In late 2023, a consortium of banks completed the first blockchain-based wholesale payments in central-bank money in the UK, hinting at how interbank transfers might operate in the near future. As the technology matures, what was once a buzzword is becoming a strategic asset for banks looking to modernize everything from cross-border payments to compliance.
Blockchain in Banking: Beyond Cryptocurrency
Blockchain’s appeal to banks lies in its potential to transform the plumbing of financial services. At its core, a blockchain is a tamper-evident ledger that multiple parties can trust. For banking, this means unprecedented data integrity and transparency.
Transaction records written to a blockchain are immutable and shared among participants, creating a single source of truth. This reduces errors from manual reconciliation and ensures that all parties – a network of banks, for example – see identical ledgers. Improved transparency can simplify auditing and regulatory reporting, since authorized stakeholders can instantly verify transaction histories on the ledger.
The technology also offers enhanced security. Blockchains secure data through cryptography and decentralized consensus, making them resistant to unauthorized alteration.
There is no single point of failure: instead of one central database vulnerable to hacks or outages, data is distributed across nodes. For banks, which safeguard vast sums and sensitive information, this resilient architecture is attractive. It can reduce certain kinds of fraud, since illicit changes to records (for example, falsifying transaction amounts) are extremely difficult once entries are confirmed on the chain. In short, blockchain can bolster trust in the integrity of financial data, a cornerstone of the banking system.
Another key advantage is speed and efficiency in settlement. Traditional interbank payments and securities trades often pass through layers of intermediaries (correspondent banks, clearing houses, custodians), leading to days of settlement time and added fees. Blockchain can enable near real-time settlement by cutting out middlemen and using smart contracts (self-executing code) to automatically complete transactions once conditions are met. For instance, one major bank’s blockchain platform allows a corporate client (Siemens) to move money across the globe in real time, 24/7, using tokens representing bank deposits.
Blockchain’s design can also improve privacy and compliance in banking transactions, seemingly a paradox given its transparency.
In practice, many banks use permissioned blockchains – private networks where only approved entities can participate and view data. This allows banks to control who sees sensitive information. Advanced cryptographic techniques (like zero-knowledge proofs) and careful network rules let banks share verification of data (say, that a customer passed KYC checks) without exposing the underlying personal details to all participants. The result is an ability to share compliance information or payment details with regulators and counterparties in a privacy-preserving way.
A shared ledger for customer due diligence, for example, could let multiple banks rely on a single verified KYC record, reducing duplicative compliance work while maintaining client privacy. Likewise, because every transaction on a blockchain is traceable, it can actually aid anti-money-laundering efforts – illicit fund flows become easier to track in a transparent ledger, especially when combined with analytic tools.
Perhaps the most transformative use of blockchain in banking is the tokenization of assets. Tokenization means creating a digital token on a blockchain that represents ownership of a real asset – be it cash, bonds, loans, or even commodities. Banks hope that trading financial assets as blockchain-based tokens will make transactions faster, cheaper, and more accessible.
For example, a large European bank recently issued a €10 million digital bond entirely on a public blockchain, in a bid to gain expertise in these new methods.
The process demonstrated how smart contracts could automate interest payments and how investors could buy the bond using digital cash tokens. By tokenizing assets, banks can create new liquidity in traditionally illiquid holdings (like parts of loan portfolios or real estate) and serve clients with innovative products.
In summary, blockchain’s utility in banking extends far beyond powering cryptocurrencies. It offers a multifaceted toolkit: immutable data ledgers that boost integrity, shared records that enhance transparency among partners, cryptographic security that reduces fraud, automation that enables speed and efficiency, and tokenization that unlocks new ways to package and trade value.
These features can improve back-office efficiency (cutting down settlement times and reconciliation tasks), strengthen front-office offerings (24/7 payments, new digital assets), and reinforce regulatory compliance (through robust audit trails and cooperative KYC solutions).
While challenges remain (scalability, interoperability, and regulatory standardization, to name a few), the potential benefits have prompted leading banks to act. Below, we examine ten of the world’s top banks that have been early and enthusiastic adopters of blockchain technology, and how they are deploying it in practice.
JPMorgan Chase (USA): Story of Blockchain Adoption
Profile: JPMorgan Chase, with about $4.2 trillion in assets as of late 2024, is the largest bank in the United States and one of the most influential financial institutions globally. It operates a vast consumer and corporate banking business and is known for its innovation in financial technology.
Blockchain Initiatives: JPMorgan has been a trailblazer in blockchain adoption among banks. It was one of the first major players to create an in-house, enterprise-grade blockchain platform. In 2020, the bank launched “Onyx” – a dedicated blockchain unit – and introduced JPM Coin, a digital token pegged to the US dollar for use in wholesale payments.
Today, JPMorgan’s blockchain-based infrastructure is live and handling real transactions for clients. For example, the bank’s blockchain network enables corporate treasurers to move funds across borders instantly.
In Germany, industrial giant Siemens is already using JPMorgan’s blockchain service to transfer money globally in real time.
This service, part of JPMorgan’s Onyx platform, leverages tokenized bank deposits to facilitate round-the-clock payments for corporate clients, eliminating the delays of traditional wire transfers.
Beyond payments, JPMorgan is exploring other uses such as trade settlement and account reconciliation through distributed ledgers. It has developed Liink (formerly IIN), a blockchain-based interbank information network, to streamline cross-bank data sharing and payment instruction validation.
The bank is also active in blockchain consortia: it was a founding member of industry networks like Ethereum Enterprise Alliance and has collaborated on projects for trade finance and repo trading on blockchain. JPMorgan’s early commitment to blockchain is driven by a belief that the technology can cut costs and improve client service in core banking. Executives have set a three- to five-year roadmap to widen the use of blockchain in cash management and trade finance within its corporate client base.
This is just the first in our series of articles about banks adopting blockchain technologies. Stay tuned.