JPMorgan’s DeFi platform to open crypto innovation lab in Greece

Despite JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) CEO Jamie Dimon repeatedly blasting Bitcoin (BTC) as “a hyped-up scam” and “pet rock,” as well as comparing the biggest cryptocurrency to a Ponzi scheme, the American banking giant continues to advance. in the cryptocurrency sector.

Specifically, JPMorgan’s decentralized finance (DeFi) branch Onyx is opening an innovation lab in Athens, Greece, “with an initial focus on building blockchain-related capabilities,” said the platform’s head of Blockchain Launch and Onyx Digital Assets, Tyrone Lobban, in a LinkedIn post 13 . February.

Responsibility of the Athens team

As Lobban explained, the lab’s launch is part of the company’s efforts to expand the concept of digital identity, which it considers crucial for the further development of Web3 services:

“The Athen team will form part of the Onyx Blockchain Launch and will be at the core of the exploration and development of digital identity solutions, expanding the capabilities we have tested in recent years. We believe that digital identity is the key to unlocking scale for web3 and can enable completely new interactions and services for both web2 and web3.”

To this end, Lobban encouraged talented engineers who “want to work at the forefront of blockchain, identity and web3 in Athens,” to apply for the platform’s new positions in Greece, which include full-stack software engineers, a mobile app engineer, and Onyx Launch technical boss.

JPMorgan’s expansion into crypto

It is also important to note that in November, JPMorgan registered a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for ‘JP MORGAN WALLET’, to offer a crypto wallet for digital currency exchange and transfer, which the USPTO later granted.

Furthermore, JPMorgan subsidiary Chase Bank allows its US account holders to acquire crypto through a regulated broker or exchange, as long as it is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and is allowed to sell digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH).

The increased crypto-related efforts appear to be a response to the increased public interest in cryptocurrencies, which the company recognized by analyzing its customers’ activities, concluding that nearly 13% of all households had moved money into or out of a crypto . account at least once from June 2022.