Weekly Blockchain Blog – June 2025 #4
US Bank Unveils ‘Deposit Token’; Exchange Launches Multiple Crypto Products
According to recent reports, the largest bank in the U.S. has unveiled plans to pilot a so-called “deposit token,” JPMD, on the Ethereum layer-2 Base network. The JPMD token will reportedly be available initially only to approved institutional clients on one of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges. According to a white paper published by the bank’s blockchain unit, a “deposit token” such as JPMD is “commercial bank money,” or “[a] transferable token[s] issued on a blockchain by a licensed depository institution which evidence[s] a deposit claim against the issuer.”
The same U.S. cryptocurrency exchange that is reportedly being used for the JPMD token announced several new products recently. In a company blog post, the exchange announced a partnership with a major e-commerce platform that will allow retail consumers to pay e-commerce merchants using the USDC stablecoin.
In another blog post, the exchange announced the launch of its Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) offering. According to the blog post, among other things, the CaaS offering will help banks offer secure, regulated and scalable digital asset products for retail, wealth and institutional clients; provide crypto infrastructure that expands reach and capabilities for brokers and exchanges; and help payments firms enable USDC payments, 24/7 settlement solutions, treasury management, and fiat to crypto on and off ramps.
Finally, the same crypto exchange announced that it will launch its first credit card, the One Card, on the network of a major U.S. credit card issuer. According to a press release, the One Card will offer up to 4 percent bitcoin back on every purchase.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
Digital Asset Companies Announce Product Launches, Acquisitions
A major multinational fintech company recently announced the expansion of its partnership with a leading e-commerce platform. According to a press release, the expanded partnership will enable the platform’s merchant customers to accept payments in the USDC stablecoin. Through the partnership, the platform’s merchants will be able to receive stablecoin payments from their customers and will be able to either deposit the payments into a traditional bank account in local fiat currency or transfer the funds as USDC into an external crypto wallet.
According to recent reports, BUIDL, the tokenized money market fund of a major global asset manager, will soon become accepted as collateral on two major digital asset exchanges. The BUIDL token was initially launched on the Ethereum blockchain network in March 2024 in partnership with Securitize. According to reports, crypto traders who execute trades on the two exchanges will now be able to “post a yield-bearing, blockchain-native version of U.S. Treasurys to back trades.”
In a final development, a major stablecoin issuer recently announced that it has acquired a 32 percent equity stake in a Toronto stock exchange-listed gold mining company. According to reports, the acquisition is designed to enable the stablecoin issuer to integrate gold and other assets, such as bitcoin, into its ecosystem.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
GENIUS Act Stablecoin Legislation Passes US Senate
On June 17, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act with 68 votes, 18 of which came from Democrats.The GENIUS Act reportedly establishes a first-of-its-kind federal regulatory framework for dollar-pegged stablecoins, with goals including protecting consumers and strengthening national security. It also is reported to set guardrails for the industry, with protections including requirements for stablecoin issuers to maintain full-reserve backing, anti-money-laundering compliance, and monthly audits. An expected benefit of the GENIUS Act is that it will open the door to a wide range of stablecoin issuers, from banks and fintechs to major retailers that may be looking to launch stablecoins or to integrate them into existing payment systems, as noted in reports. According to a press release, Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, noted that the GENIUS Act came about as the result of months of bipartisan, good-faith negotiations, which benefited from consultation with industry participants, legal and academic experts, and government stakeholders. The proposed legislation has been sent to the U.S. House of Representatives, which has been working on its own draft stablecoin bill.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
Blockchain Traceability Infrastructure Launches, Use Case Handbook Published
A foundation dedicated to development of the Cardano network ecosystem recently announced the launch of Originate, “an open-source traceability infrastructure designed to verify product authenticity and support industry certifications.” According to a blog post, Originate is built for diverse industries and applications and “provides a scalable, cost-effective, and customizable foundation for verifying authenticity, enhancing trust, and expanding into new markets.”
In other news, the Global Blockchain Business Council recently released the 2025 edition of its 101 Real-World Blockchain Use Cases Handbook. The 302-page document discusses blockchain use cases in the areas of agriculture, commodities and energy; AI; entertainment and sports; finance; government; healthcare; infrastructure, custody and wallets; NFTs; standards; and supply chains.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
DOJ and NY State Actions Target Crypto Fraud Schemes, Iran Exchange Hacked
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that it has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against more than $225.3 million in cryptocurrency. According to a DOJ press release, “The complaint alleges that the cryptocurrency addresses that held the over $225.3 million in cryptocurrency were part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network that executed hundreds of thousands of transactions and was used to conceal the nature, source, control, and ownership of proceeds derived from cryptocurrency investment fraud.” The DOJ press release acknowledged the assistance of a major stablecoin issuer in the investigation. The stablecoin issuer published its own statement, in which it indicated that the funds at issue in the DOJ forfeiture complaint were linked to an extensive “pig butchering” fraud operation that targeted individuals across multiple jurisdictions.
In a separate development, the State of New York Department of Financial Services announced that “a multi-agency long-term investigation resulted in the disruption of a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scam that targeted members of the Russian community in Brooklyn and across the country.” According to a press release, as part of the action, “Court orders have led to the seizure of $140,000 worth of cryptocurrency, the freezing of approximately $300,000 worth of cryptocurrency, and the dismantling of a cluster of scam websites and registrar accounts.”
In a final notable item, according to reports, Iranian crypto exchange Nobitex was recently hacked for over $81 million in digital assets. According to reports, a pro-Israel hacker group has claimed responsibility for the hack.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
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